Bugatti 38
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Car producer : |
Bugatti |
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Model: |
38 |
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Year: |
1926-1928 |
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Type: |
Roadster |
The Bugatti Type 38 chassis clearly benefited from the lessons learned on the racetrack and entered production in 1926, replacing Bugatti’s first eight-cylinder road car, the Type 30, which debuted in 1922 and saw total production of some 600 units. While similar in many ways to its predecessor, the new Type 38 refined the Type 30 concept even further with a longer 123-inch-wheelbase chassis and a two-inch wider track, providing the ideal canvas for a variety of comfortable, spacious and sporting bodies from the finest custom-coachbuilders of the era.
The two-liter, eight-cylinder engine of the Type 38 was largely based on the competition-oriented Type 35 design, with two blocks of four cylinders each, non-detachable cylinder heads and the ball bearing-supported crankshaft of the prior Type 30. Single overhead camshaft actuated twin inlet valves and one exhaust valve per cylinder provide the remarkably free breathing characteristics in the typical Bugatti fashion. Enlarged engine mounts located the engine within the new T38 chassis. The T38 engine was equipped with dual Solex carburetors and a coil-type ignition, providing output of 60bhp in basic tune and up to 100bhp in supercharged Type 38A form.
The engine’s power was transmitted to the road with a new four-speed manual gearbox derived from the T40. The radiator and axles were based upon those of the T43, while the T40 also contributed the large, cable-operated brakes, with their drums visible though the T38’s center-lock wire-spoke wheels.
The Type 38 was produced in 1926 and 1927. It used the 2 L (1991 cc/121 in³) engine from the Type 35A "Tecla". The supercharger from the Type 37A was later fitted, making the Type 38A. Its gearbox and brakes were later used in the Type 40, while its radiator and axles were shared with the Type 43.
385 examples were produced, 39 of which were supercharged 38As.
