1930 Bugatti

edited by David Barth, 30 January 2009.
Courtesy The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Photos were taken in January 2009.

Ettore Bugatti designed cars which were unique in the automotive world. Bugatti coined the slogan "The Thoroughbred of Automobiles" for his creations. This was not boasting because the quality of his cars exceeded that of Rolls Royce and Duesenburg. The famous Bugatti radiator shell shape is a reference to a horse saddle stirrup.

Bugatti was born in Milan, Italy in 1881 to a family of artists. He built hs first car when he was nineteen. Between 1900 and 1908, Bugatti worked with several German manufacturers. In 1909 he organized his own factory at Molsheim in Alsace-Lorraine.

The first production Bugatti, shown at the 1910 Paris Salon, received a great deal of favorable comment which, combined with its performance in speed events, ensured healthy sales in spite of its high price. The company produced spectacular racing cars and road cars fitted with exquisitely-designed bodies. All Bugattis are meticulously handcrafted, making ownership of a Bugatti something to which many have aspired, but few have attained.

Only 9,500 Bugattis of 74 types were produced in 47 years. The Type 44 touring car combined earlier Bugattis' well established sporting qualities with smoothness, silence, and ease of control. The Type 44 engine used a then-innovative overhead camshaft, with three valves per cylinder. This allowed the relatively small engine to generate a healthy eighty horsepower and deliver a top speed around 90 mph.

The Crawford Museum's Bugatti Type 44 is the only two-door, four passenger phaeton known to exist. Carrying bodywork similar to later (1933-1935) models, even among Bugattis, this car is unique.

Model: 44
Body Style: Two-door Phaeton
Original Factory Price: $4,250
Engine: Overhead camshaft, inline eight
Displacement: 2,992 cubic centimeters (191 cubic inches)
Bore: 69 millimeters (2 3/4 inches)
Stroke: 100 millimeters (4 inches)
Brake Horsepower: 80
Manufacturer: Automobiles E. Bugatti
Location: Molsheim, France

Gift of Betty and Edsel H. Phabe