Racing History
The 1933 1 Hour Speed Record at Avus
The Type 59's were designed and developed from the earlier Bugatti Type 51's and Type 54's and were first introduced in 1933. The Type 59's were initially fitted with 2.8 liter engines, later enlarged to 3.3 liters, and were relatively uncompetitive against the entries from other marques. This initial lack of pace prompted the Bugatti factory to install the highly developed type 54 engine number 8, which was originally used to set the one hour speed record at Avus, near Berlin, into the Type 59. This Type 54 was driven by Count Stanislaus Czaikowski and ultimately set a one hour moving average of 132.87mph. Due to the track layout consisting of two long parallel straights connected by 2 very tight hairpin turns, the Type 54 would actually reach speeds of roughly 150mph on the straights. The Count would later crash and overturn the Type 54 outside the banking at the old oval at Monza in 1933. The crash resulted in Czaikowski's death, but with very little damage to the car. This lack of damage facilitated the later powerplant transplantation into the Type 59 chassis for the French Grand Prix in 1935.
The 1935 French Grand Prix at Montlhéry
By 1935, the German juggernauts of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union were in full swing, being substantially subsidized by the Nazi regime. These subsidies were thought to be in direct response to Bugatti's and Count Czaikowski's domination of the German marques at Avus back 1933, with Hitler rumored to have been in attendance there.
Being an implement of the Nazi propaganda machine, the German teams put the motor racing world in a David versus Goliath situation. To combat this, Bugatti unveiled the Type59/50S at the 1935 French Grand Prix. Due to the Type 54 engine number 8 engine being fitted into the Type 59 Chassis, the team and driver Robert Benoist arrived late to the circuit and were not able to participate in Friday's practice session. When the flag dropped on Sunday, the Type 59/50S, while a marked improvement over earlier, smaller displacement Type 59's, was not quite up to par with the Silver Arrows.
The Type 59/50S made quite an impression on the grand prix attendees, as it its hood flew off the car on lap 4, nearly decapitating Benoist. Benoist famously, and miraculously, caught and held the hood while driving.
Benoist then pulled over to refit the hood and continued on in the race. Benoist and the car would ultimately retire on lap 16 or lap 34 (contemporary reports differ), thus ending the Type 59/50S's short lived racing career. The car did not receive official classification, but unofficially finished 7th out of 11 entrants, after completing more laps than the other retirements.
After the middling result against the GP cars from other marques, the Bugatti factory would focus its attention on developing the alloy blocked Type 50B racing engines, a direct evolution of the 50S engine that built upon and refined many elements first implemented on the Type 50S.
The Type 59/50B's would go on to win at at the 1939 Coupe de Paris at Montlhery and 1945 Coupe des Prisonniers in Paris, immediately after the War. The Type 59/50B's would also finish first in class and second overall at La Turbie Hill climb and second at the 1939 Prescott Hill Climb. Notable successes considering that Mercedes Benz or Auto Union won every round of the European Championship Grand Prix, save for one, from 1935 until 1939. Additionally winning most major non championship Grand Prix in that period as well.