The Bugatti Type 46 was announced in the autumn of 1929. The new Bugatti chassis, at almost twelve feet in length and powered by an 8-cylinder engine of 5300cc, was intended to be the basis of a superlative large luxury car - and so it proved to be. Bodied by the greatest European coachbuilders to the highest standards of quality and style for rich and discerning clientele, the T46 was in many ways a smaller Royale and is said to have been the favourite of Ettore Bugatti. Later, an optional supercharger became available to create the 46S model. In 1930 the Bugatti Type 50 superseded the T46. The new model still used the T46s chassis and most of its running gear, but featured a new, high-performance, twin-overhead-camshaft engine of just under 5-litre capacity. This supercharged unit gave the T50 very spirited performance for such a large and luxurious car, placing the model firmly in the Grand Sport category. 1931 saw a team of T50s take part in the Le Mans 24-Hour race, but the cars were withdrawn before the race finished after Rosts car crashed, tragically killing a spectator in the process. In total, fewer than five hundred T46 and T50 Bugattis were built in but, with the obvious exception of the Royale, these cars represented the pinnacle of luxury car manufacture for the famous Molsheim marque. See fabulous coachbuilt bodies by Gaston Grummer, Chapron, Ghia, James Young, Van Vooren, Weymann, Billeter & Cartier, Gangloff, Joss Neuce, Mllion-Guiet, Freestone & Webb, Van den Plas, Arthur Mulliner, Kellner, Lancefield, Corsica, Visse et Haf, Ottin, Brainsby-Woollard, Sodomka, Graber, Weinburger, Abbots of Farnham as well as Bugattis standard bodies. Barrie Prices work is a concise history of the Bugatti Types 46 and 50, an engineering analysis and the most thorough survey yet of the many coachbuilt bodies fitted to these famous chassis. Appendices include a complete chassis listing and reproductions of promotional material produced by Bugatti, Bugatti agents and others. "... a galaxy of superb coachbuilt and standard bodies on both chassis ..." - The Automobile "Barry price writes with great authority ... a fine collection of rare photographs and period advertising material ..." - Classic Car Weekly

Launched in 1930, the Bugatti Type 50 heralded a new era with the introduction of the Molsheim marque’s first twin-cam design, a supercharged 4.9-litre straight-eight engine of prodigious power. At a time when brute force was needed to win the Le Mans 24 Hours, a competition version was developed and three such Type 50s took part in 1931. The car around which this book is focused, 50177, was leading the famous endurance race when the team withdrew it owing to tyre failures that had afflicted the sister cars, causing one to crash heavily at high speed. The fascinating story of 50177, and the Type 50 in general, is told in this brilliantly researched and superbly illustrated book in the Great Cars series. Introductory chapters explain the economically perilous world of 1931, the genius of Ettore and Jean Bugatti, the bloodline of large-capacity Bugatti engines, and the Type 46 from which the Type 50 was derived. There follows an in-depth exploration of the Type 50’s design and development, including the Miller inspiration behind its twin-cam engine. The four Le Mans races in which Type 50s took part form the core of the book and tell a story of promise unfulfilled. The subject car, 50177, raced three times, in 1931 as a works entry with race no. 5 (driven by Albert Divo and Guy Bouriat) and in 1934 and 1935 with works assistance as no. 2 (driven by Pierre Veyron and Roger Labric). A section about the drivers presents illustrated biographies of the four men who raced 50177 as well as the four others in the 1931 works team — Louis Chiron and Achille Varzi in no. 4 and Maurice Rost and Count Caberto Conelli in no. 6. Post-war, three-time Le Mans winner Luigi Chinetti bought 50177 in 1949 and took it to America, where it spent nearly 50 years with five different owners. The last of them was Miles Coverdale, a passionate Bugatti collector who kept the car for 23 years and uncovered much of its history through correspondence with former works mechanics, notably Robert Aumaître. Co-authors Mark Morris and Julius Kruta, wellknown in the Bugatti world for their immense knowledge and enthusiasm, present a wealth of fresh information and illustration in this fine book.

A comprehensive, radical look at the history and development of the Type 57 Grand Prix Bugattis. New material challenges traditional beliefs about these historic cars, and rejects some long-standing conventions. Myths are explored and truths are revealed in a book celebrating all aspects of these remarkable cars and their creators.

This book is a pictorial tribute to the 4-cylinder Bugatti Type 40. Although sometimes unkindly referred to as 'Ettore's Morris Cowley,' the model nevertheless shared its fine engineering pedigree with all other Bugattis. Packed with mainly period photographs, illustrations and sales literature, it is a visual treat for all admirers of this model, and for added interest the book also features the factory's individual chassis sales records.

Born in 1900 to a soon-to-be-widowed postmaster's wife in a small French village, Hélène Delangle's background offered no suggestion of the extraordinary life she was to lead. The first step was to leave the country behind and head to the city -- in this case, a Paris in the grip of an intoxicating 1920s blend of creativity and debauchery. She became a dancer, and then a stripper. But the demi-monde of gauze veils and admirers was not enough. A visit to the Actors' Championships, a uniquely French meeting of the theatrical world with the race-track, opened her eyes to the glamorous combination of machines and speed. Quickly establishing herself as a racer of uncommon talent and audacity, the beautiful woman now known as Hellé Nice -- Hellish Nice to her British fans -- then caught the attention of none other than Ettore Bugatti, founder of the marque with which her name will always be associated. And yet, despite the fame and the fortune she amassed in an unprecedented career, she died penniless and alone, an old woman in a crumbling Nice flat surrounded only by memories. THE BUGATTI QUEEN is the story of a great pioneer of motor racing who happened to be a woman. Re-creating her rollercoaster career with great verve and panache, Miranda Seymour brilliantly shows us a life now forgotten -- and makes it unforgettable.

The years between the two World Wars was an extraordinary period for the French luxury car trade and during this time, Carrosserie Gaston Grümmer was one of the leading coach building houses in Paris.Descended from a long line of coach builders, Gaston Grümmer was the son of Antoine-Joseph whose company, J. Grümmer formerly V. Morel, produced first, from 1845, exceptional horse-drawn carriages and from the 1890s automotive bodies. Trained in the family business before World War I, Gaston Grümmer, spent the war as a soldier, first on horseback and in the trenches and then in the air as a pilot. At the end of hostilities, he brilliantly re-launched the family business transforming it into the Société Anonyme des Etablissements Grümmer. As the company moved towards the production of series bodywork for various manufacturers, Gaston decided that he wanted to break away to build custom cars and in 1924 he created his own company under the name of Carrosserie Gaston Grümmer. For the next ten years he achieved great success on both aesthetic and technical levels.Thanks to recently discovered and previously unpublished archives, his son, Philippe Grümmer, in association with one of the best French automotive historians, Laurent Friry, takes us back to this glorious period during the "Roaring Twenties" recalling the major events of the Concours d'Elégance and Les Salons de l'Auto, and describes the bodies that Gaston Grümmer produced for the chassis of around 54 manufacturers and the hundred or so prizes which he won.Illustrated with photographs, press articles and period documents, including the reproduction of a series of design drawings, this reference book on bodywork of the time is a must for any student of the period.