Bugatti: The last of its kind

Bugatti factory race cars are extremely rare. Only a few units were built from 1909 to 1963 in Molsheim, Alsace. With the Type 59, Bugatti designed its last pure Grand Prix racing car more than 80 years ago.

The last of its kind
One of the most important is the Bugatti Type 59/50 BIII with chassis number 441352 and frame number 6, the so-called Cork racing car. The Type 59 was Bugatti's last Grand Prix design before the outbreak of World War II.

Ettore's son Jean Bugatti designed the picture-perfect Grand Prix racing car with perfect proportions. Details such as the piano-string spoked wheels testify to innovation and perfectionism. It was powered by a 3-liter in-line eight-cylinder engine with twin overhead camshafts and a supercharger.

Connection automotive engineering and art
Over the years, two bodies were built on the frame during racing - a two-seater and a monoposto. Several further developments with different displacements were used in this chassis and finally culminated in the Type 50 BIII.

But the Cork race car also illustrates the connection between automotive engineering and art that makes Bugatti unique.

First race in 1935 in Montlhéry
The top model of all Grand Prix versions was based on the eight-cylinder Type 59. At the French Grand Prix in Montlhéry in June 1935, the car with frame number 6 and an almost five-liter eight-cylinder supercharged engine made its debut.

At the Cork Grand Prix in April 1938, the Type 59/50 competed with a new, lighter single-seater body and a completely new engine - hence the nickname Cork Car.

Grand Prix factory car of the 30s
The Cork with the 50 BIII engine contested its last race in 1938 at the French GP in Reims. Today, the model with its 3-liter engine is one of the rare genuine Grand Prix works cars from the 1930s.

The artistic and elegant bodywork makes the vehicle an automotive sculpture that is as much at home on race tracks as it is at art exhibitions.

bugatti.com