This vintage Bugatti could sell for almost $2 million
As delivered, they lacked a rear-view mirror and an engine driven air pump for the fuel tank," the auction house said. "Since a riding mechanic was still mandatory for Grand Prix racing, his duties included maintaining fuel pressure while also acting as the driver's lookout to spot any imminent overtake from behind.
The car also demonstrates the carmaker's very rudimentary, though undeniably innovative, understanding of aerodynamics at the time.
Bugatti, now a property of the Volkswagen Group, maintains a certain association with speed, and currently holds the record for the world's fastest production car — the 1,000 horsepower Veyron, soon to be replaced by the even faster Chiron.
This Type 35 is incredibly well documented, and Bonhams provides an extensive history along with a good many pictures of it racing. Here, the car — a bit sideways — takes on the vaunted Shelsley Walsk Hillclimb in England in 1925.
According to Bonhams:
An account of Kidston's driving explains that he "...was in his first season of motor sport, and tended to favour win-or-bust tactics". In a lurid but undeniably spectacular ascent of Shelsley Walsh hillclimb, Glen Kidston's "...lovely blue Bugatti clouted the bank by the Kennel Bend and then went into an almost broadside skid on the first corner of the Esses, showering grit and loose stones over spectators in the members' enclosure....".
Bonhams estimates a sale price of $1.1 million to $1.7 million. Which is a good deal, considering next year's Chiron will cost about twice that.
Those are some skinny tires!
And this Bugatti comes with a spare.
Bugatti have a racing heritage, going all the way back to the days when helmets were small and spectators were close to the action.
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