Bugatti Type 40

The new Bugatti Type 40 of 1926 represented a return to the roots of the Molsheim marque’s early success with sub-1500cc 4-cylinder cars. The Type 40 also offered buyers a car of less complexity than the contemporary 8-cylinder Bugattis and at attractive prices.

While not as spritely as the 8-cylinder Bugattis, the little Type 40 still offered very reasonable performance from its race-bred, Type 37-derived 3-valve per cylinder engine, together with practicality and good fuel economy. The T40’s durability was amply demonstrated by Loiseau’s epic trek across the Sahara in 1929, the story of which is included within these covers.

From 1931, the bore of the 4-cylinder engine was enlarged, giving a small increase in capacity to just over 1600cc and creating the model designated as the Type 40A. Production ceased in 1933.

Barrie Price’s and Jean Louis Arbey’s work is a concise history of the Bugatti Types 40 & 40A, a useful technical overview and the most thorough survey yet of the standard and many coachbuilt bodies fitted to these chassis. Appendices include a complete chassis listing, contemporary road tests and reproductions of promotional material produced by Bugatti and Bugatti agents.