A Grand Prix car for the road

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While the Type 35 goes about its business of hogging the limelight and making enthusiasts misty-eyed, spare a thought for the Type 43 as it sits in the shadow of its Grand Prix sister. While the T35, as an out-and-out racing car, achieved numerous competition victories, and all the associated fame and romance, the T43 is a far superior car in many respects yet remains relatively unappreciated outside the realms of Bugatti cognoscenti.

Its intricate two-litre ohc straight-eight was shared with the T35, albeit slightly detuned but with the addition of a Roots supercharger, but its rakish four-seat sports tourer bodywork was all its own. What this created was a road car combining elegance with potency, easily capable of 100mph while remaining a perfectly comfortable, useable touring car.

Not only that, but it was also just as much a competition car as the T35, except endurance racing was its forte rather than Grands Prix. Bugatti entered a team of three T43s in the 1927 Mille Miglia, performing well until mechanical troubles blighted all three cars. T43s also featured in the 1929 Monte Carlo Rally and 1930 Brooklands Double-Twelve, as well as various trials, Tourist Trophies and Grands Prix, although never achieving the success Ettore had hoped for.

Matthew Bell argues the case for this overlooked Bugatti in more detail in the September issue of The Automobile, on sale now.

Words by Zack Stiling. Photographs by Tom Pilston.

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