Bugatti Type 18

Engine

Power came from a large 5.0 L (5027 cc/306 in³) straight-4 engine with 3 valves per cylinder and a single overhead camshaft. This large engine had a 100 mm bore and very long 160 mm stroke, so it could only rev to about 2400 rpm.

Power was transferred through a multi-plate metal-on-metal clutch to a 4-speed with reverse manual transmission. Two chains - one exposed each side outside of the main chassis rails - drove the rear wheels, with the factory providing three sets of rear wheel chain sprockets, which meant the maximum speed was close to 100 mph.

author=Kent Karslake, road test, 1956. | text =In spite of the advanced nature of its design the engine gives little of the harsh racing car impression. Again, in spite of the size of that engine it does not give the impression of a big car and in spite of the tall radiator the short wheelbase lends it the appearance of a small sports car. On the road that impression is reinforced, the delicacy of control makes it a joy to drive and one can still flick the gearlever about as you may do only in an early Bugatti.

The subdued howl and occasional suggestion of snatch from the side chains remind that this is a period car. If this car is typical of what the Prince Henry Tours produced the Prince Henry period can only be regarded as a most important constituent of the Golden Age.

Chassis No. 474 "Black Bess"

The first car in the series, No.471, was actively campaigned by Ettore Bugatti himself in competition in 1912. No.472 was delivered new to Paris, and No.473 was delivered new to Alfred Hielle of Schoenlinde, a close friend of Ettore Bugatti.

Chassis No.474 was also sold to a friend of Ettore's in a marketing coup, the French aviator and sportsman Roland Garros (1888-1918). On supply of his chassis on 18 September 1913, Garros commissioned a torpedo-body by Labourdette with off-set seating. Having been flying and piloting early aeroplanes privately since 1910, at the start of World War I Garros became a French Army fighter pilot, and was killed in 1918. A keen tennis player, the French Open was named after Garros in 1927. The car was sold post WWI to Louis Coatalen, the chief engineer of the Sunbeam Motor Car Company. In 1925 it was sold to Oxford University student L H Preston, who continued to race the car under the name "Black Bess". and is now on public display in the Louwman Museum in the Netherlands.

1913 Bugatti Type 18 1.jpg 1913 Bugatti Type 18 SportsTwo seater Black Bess p1.JPG 1913 Bugatti Type 18 SportsTwo seater Black Bess p2.JPG

Surviving examples

There are three cars surviving. Alongside "Black Bess"", No.715 is on public display at the Schlumpf Collection, Musée National de l'Automobile de Mulhouse in France. The third car, on chassis No.471 but with a different chassis's engine, is privately owned in England.

References

References

1. "1912 Bugatti Type 18 Grand Prix Specifications".
2. (2013). "Million Dollar Classics: The World's Most Expensive Cars". Chartwell Books.
3. Kent Karslake, Laurence Pomeroy, ''From Veteran to Vintage'', Temple Press, London, 1956
4. (2009-01-30). "Black Bess, famous Bugatti Type 18 goes under the hammer".
5. (6 April 2016). "Bugatti Type 18 'Black Bess'". supercars.net.
6. (2013-08-04). "Bugatti Type 18 Sports Two-Seater 'Black Bess'".