BUGATTI 251 – year 1956

Automobiles E. Bugatti, Molsheim, France.

Bugatti has competed in the French Grand Prix in Reims to revive the past glory of its cars. So the new Bugatti racing car model was presented 251.

Unconventional construction - the work of the Italian engineer Gioacchino Colombo – It featured an engine located transversely behind the driver's seat. Inline, eight-cylinder bore engine 76 mm and piston stroke 68,5 mm (total capacity 2486 cm3) it consisted of two four-cylinder blocks bolted together by bolts. The engine was powerful 169,3 kW (230 KM) by 8000 RPM. The two camshafts in the cylinder head were driven by a gear system. The crankshaft was mounted in ten slide bearings. Driving force, similar to the Mercedes W 196, was picked up from the center of the crankshaft and transferred by a dry clutch to a five-speed gearbox with Porsche synchronization. The double ignition came from the Marella magneto. Due to the transverse arrangement of the engine, the power transmission at right angles is eliminated. The torque was transmitted to the de Dion rear axle via short drive shafts. Placing the fuel tanks on the sides of the vehicle between the front and rear wheels was to evenly distribute the weight to both axles, however, despite this, the car was very unstable. The front axle has an interesting design as a rigid axle with spring springs. The solution is, already then inconsistent with the tendency to reduce the unsprung parts, was probably aimed at maintaining constant parameters of the track width and their geometry.

Bugatti 251 it had hydraulic disc brakes and spoked wheels. Vehicle suspension in addition to coil springs, placed transversely, it also consisted of concentric telescopic shock absorbers. Vehicle weight and top speed unknown. Only two copies of this model were made.

Unfortunately the Bugatti 251 did not live up to the hopes placed in him. Expected, that he will be able to compete with Ferrari and Porsche, but the first trial of strength at Reims was a failure, although the famous Trintignant rider was behind the wheel. Model 251 it was not improved later due to the financial difficulties of the company, and the Bugatti name never again appeared on Grand Prix racetracks.