Bugatti Type 54GP
By the 1930’s, the racing dominance of Type 35 had come to a close and Bugatti’s answer was the Type 51. First appearing in 1931, the Type 51 featured a supercharged 2.3 liter dual overhead cam straight 8 which was an evolution of the supercharged 2.3l single overhead cam (pictured left) utilized in the Type 35’s.
The Type 54 would be propelled by a 4.9 liter dual overhead cam straight 8 engine producing an eye watering for the time 300hp. To transform the Type 51 into the first Type 54, only 13 days were allegedly required to shoehorn the 4.9l into the chassis and prepare it for the 1931 Monza GP. Two Type 54’s would be entered and both would have tire issues. One would retire when a tire failed and cut one of the braking cables, while the other would finish 3rd, despite being let down by its tires as well.
While the Type 54 was a tour de force on high speed circuits, the extra mass from the enlarged engine would make the Type 54 quite a handful through the corners. Bugatti engineers of the time recognized that tire development had not kept pace with the development of their car. Phil Hill allegedly drove a Type 54 at the Monterrey Historic Races and proclaimed it was the scariest car he had ever driven.
In addition to its race victories, a Type 54 driven by Count Czaikowski would set a new world speed record at Avus in 1933 where it achieved a one hour moving average of 132.87mph. Impressive in number alone, but even more so considering that the two turns adjoining the main straights were slow and without any banking. Type 54’s were said to regularly exceed 150mph on the straights, with a later Type 59 using a very similar engine said to have exceeded 170mph in 1934.
Two crucial events would happen in 1933 that would spell the demise of the Type 54’s racing career. The first would be the introduction of rule changes for the 1934 AIACR season that limited the maximum weight of vehicles to 750kg. The Type 54 with its enormous engine tipped the scales at a portly(for the time) 950kg thus disqualifying it from the new AIACR regulations. The Type 54 could still compete in the Formula Libre class, but this was well beneath the pinnacle of competition at the time.
The Type 54 would be succeeded by the Type 59. First built in 1934 to adhere to the new regulations for the '34 season. The Type 59 rode on a modified Type 54 frame with the engine lowered for a better center of gravity and with holes drilled throughout the frame to save weight. Most Type 59’s would employ a 3.3 liter supercharged straight 8 making around 250hp, though one rare example would use an evolved version of the 4.9l that was plucked from Count Czaikowski’s record breaking Type 54 making 400hp. The Type 59’s would be the last racing Bugatti’s of the 1930’s due to the outbreak of WWII and the Nazi occupation of France.
More information, media and history about the Bugatti Type 59 and specifically the aforementioned Type 59-50S, can be found at our sister website www.type59/50s.com