A Bugatti Type 44 with film-star good looks

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Discovered as a project in France, this Type 44 Bugatti used to look pretty sad. Now, taking inspiration from a famous Type 38, it has all the glamour and good looks of a golden-age Hollywood star...

Today is the first day of InterClassics Maastricht, probably the first major car show of 2023 and always a very interesting one. On the PreWarCar.com and PostWarClassic.com stand, in addition to a celebrated supercar from Japan (more on which at PostWarClassic.com), we have this beautiful Bugatti Type 44.

Ettore Bugatti obviously needs no introduction here. One of history's most famous car-builders, he came from an artistic Italian family and built cars which are so much more than just a means of transportation. This 1928 Bugatti Type 44 is no different, combining brilliant engineering with beautiful bodywork. There were just 1095 Type 44s built between 1927 and 1930.

This car was bought from France as a project for a Dutch collector in 1999. He started its restoration and sourced some of the best specialists to complete it. Rod Jolley, Klopper Engineering and Ivan Dutton, to name just a few, worked on this car and got it back on the road. Before that, it had been used at several events.

The Type 44 has been rebodied in the style of a famous 1927 Bugatti Type 38 with roadster coachwork by Murphy, which had a number of high-profile appearances in Hollywood films of the early 1930s, most notably in Christopher Strong with Katharine Hepburn at the wheel.

The Type 44’s engine consists of two blocks of four cylinders with three valves per cylinder, a development of the engine used in the Type 35 racer. It has a displacement of 2991 cc and produces about 80 bhp, power enough for a top speed of over 121 km/h (75 mph). However, the Type 44 received an entirely new crankshaft, with nine plain bearings for the eight cylinders, making it one of the most solid and reliable crankshafts Bugatti ever made. The Type 44 uses a four-speed gearbox and finely-tuned leaf-spring suspension, and has large, highly effective drum brakes on all four wheels.

The 1928 Bugatti Type 44 is offered by Castricum Collector Cars and will be on display at the stand of PreWarCar.com and PostWarClassic.com throughout InterClassics Maastricht (Stand N.746) until Sunday 15th January. We look forward to meeting you there.

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