BUGATTI 30 – year 1923

Automobiles E. Bugatti, Molsheim, France.

ACF Grand Prix race in Tours in 1923 of the year began again with a simultaneous start for all competitors. At the beginning of the route, seventeen cars of different companies were placed in two rows: Bugatti, Delage, Fiat, Rolland-Pillain, Sunbeam i Voisin. The whole group of cars with randomly selected starting numbers followed the leading motorcyclist, which rolled sideways after reaching the starting line, giving cars a clear path. Shortly after the take-off, one of the greatest tragedies in the history of Grand Prix racing took place - de Viscaya driving one of his Bugatti cars at a bend at high speed into the crowd, hurting 15 viewers. Only by miracle there were no fatalities. Two other Bugatti riders also finished their ride on the barrier – Marco I of Cystria.

Bugatti cars 30 looked very unusual thanks to the original one, aerodynamic solution to the shape of the body. There was talk of the poor stability of these vehicles. The body covered the wheels, and at the rear it was strongly sharpened - the car looked more like a tank. Friedrich's third place, which had speed in front of the main stand 183 km / h measured with the electric chronometer "Fluxmeter”, however, it testifies to the great features of this original design. Bugatti 30 It was equipped with an eight-cylinder engine, created by assembling two four-cylinder engines. The problem of the camshaft drive has been solved in an interesting way, moved by a vertical camshaft from the center of the crankshaft. Extremely quiet timing gear operation is achieved even at high revs. The two-liter capacity is due to the cylinder diameter 60 mm and piston stroke 88 mm. Moc 55,9 kW (96 KM) achieved at 3500 RPM. These cars achieved their first successes in the Grand Prix ACF race in Strasbourg in 1922 year, when de Viscaya and Marco took second and third place. They drove models with a circular body section.