Bugatti Type 57

Bugatti does not build many cars like the Bugatti Type 57 with 3,257&nbsp, built from 1934 to 1940 when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together. Its designer of record is Jean Bugatti.

Where it came from

The Bugatti Type 57 and later variants (including the famous Atlantic and Atalante) was a grand tourer built from 1934 through 1940. It was an entirely new design created by Jean Bugatti, son of founder Ettore. A total of 710 Type 57s were produced. Type 57s used a straight-8 twin-cam engine of 3.3 L (3257 cc/198 in³) displacement. Bore and stroke were 72 mm by 100 mm based on that of the Type 49 but heavily modified by Jean Bugatti, unlike the single cam engines of the Type 49 and earlier models. The engines of the Type 50, 51 used bevel gears at the front of the engine to transmit power from the crankshaft, whereas the Type 57 used a train of spur gears at the rear of the engine, with fiber gear wheels on the camshafts to achieve more silence in operation. There were two basic variants of the Type 57 car:

The original Type 57 The lowered Type 57S/SC The Type 57 chassis and engine was revived in 1951 as the Bugatti Type 101. A rediscovered Type 57 was sold for 3.4 million euros at auction on 7 February 2009 at a motor show in Paris.

Under the skin

Under the skin sits 3,257&nbsp. The gearbox is a 4-speed manual. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.

In context

Where it sits in Bugatti's history is not in doubt: the Bugatti Type 49 came before it; the Bugatti Type 101 followed it; it was built at Molsheim, Alsace (Usine Bugatti de Molsheim), France. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Chevrolet Suburban, the Vauxhall Big Six, the Triumph Dolomite. Nearby in the Bugatti catalogue sit the Bugatti 57 Galibier and the Bugatti 8-cylinder line.

The money

MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Bugatti Type 57 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.