Type 57 engine

France
France is regarded as the cradle of the car, because it produced the first self-propelled vehicle (Cugont’s Fardier), and the first manufacturers of cars on an industrial scale. Prominent amongst these were Panhard & Levasor who made an agreement in 1889 with Gottlieb Daimler for the France rights to his engine, and in 1891 put their first car on the road.
Count De Dion and an engineer, Georges Bouton, founded a company for the production of cars and in 1894 the company brought out a gasoline engine, an air-cooled, single-cylinder with a maximum power of ½ bhp. More than fifty car producers bought manufacturing rights to De Dion-Bouton engines.
In the meantime, Louis Renault, together with his brothers Marcel and Fernand, founded a firm that with time would become one of the largest car manufacturers in the world. Initially, the firm produced small-engined cars , but the three brothers quickly saw that the way to make a name for themselves abroad was to go into racing. They abandoned De Dion and Aster engines and successfully ventured into producing their own engines: a 1728 cc twin-cylinder and 3800 cc 4-cylinder. The latter powered the car with which Marcel Renault won the 1902 Paris-Vienna race.
In 1908 Fernand retired and the company changed its name to Société Anonyme des Usines Renault. By then it was a manufacturer of international standing, but the Second World War dealt it an serious blow. Renault passed entirely into the hands of the State and it became Regie Naitonale des Usines Renault. Its recovery began with the 4 CV, and continued with a series of front-wheel-drive models. Peugeot’s progress was very similar in small, gradual stages.
Possibly the most enterprising, imaginative and commercially gifted figure in the France car world was André Citroën. He was the first manufacturer to realize that the car was first and foremost a means of transport and his Spartan cars were well received by the public.
Ettore Bugatti was a manufacturer for whom the car was synonymous with perfection, elegance and refinement. He has gained his place in history through his pearls of engineering, such as the legendary Royale.
Gabriel Voisin, on the other hand, was an innovator, delighting in this innovating ability, irrespective of the welcome that the public gave his machines.

Berliet VL 16 CV
Car : Berliet VL 16 CV
Year : 1921
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 90×130 mm
Cylinder capacity : 3308 cc
Gears : 3 forward
Brake horse power :30
Maximum speed : 52 mph
Wheelbase : 10 ft 3 ins (3.07 m)
Suspension : front: semi-elliptic leaf- springs ; rear : cantilever leaf- springs
At the end of the nineteenth century until 1930 Berliet was best known as a French car maker, but is nowadays known as a heavy vehicle manufacturer. Unlike many other manufacturers at that time, Berliet used to make his own engines rather than buy the finished product from one of the many specialist firms.
The 16 CV bore some resemblance and in technical features (a side valve engine, the lubrication system, the 3-speed transmission, the 12-volt electrical system, the rear cantilever leaf-spring suspension, the fixed wheel discs and the detachable rims). When it appeared in 1921, the 16 CV cost 9,500 francs.

Marcius Berliet, the founder, had ambitious aims. His experience as a military supplier during the First World War, when he had succeeded in deliverting 40 trucks and 40,000 bullets a day to the army, encouraged him to try to produce 100 cars a day.
A stream of models followed until 1939, the year in which a 2-litre car the Dauphine, with independent front suspension and synchromesh transmission entered production. After 1945 Berliet took over Rochet-Schneider and concentrated exclusively on trucks. In 1964 it was absorbed by Citroën-Michelin and, ultimately, by Renault.

Brasier Type VL
Car : Brasier Type VL
Year : 1908
Engine : vertical in line twin-cylinder
Bore and stroke : 90×120 mm
Cylinder capacity : 1526 cc
Gears : 3 forward
Brake horse power :-
Maximum speed : -
Wheelbase : –
Suspension : front: semi-elliptic leaf- springs ; rear : ¼ elliptic leaf- springs
The Brasier fame rests mainly on its renowned sporting feats which included two victories (1904 and 1905) in the celebrated Gordon Bennett Cup. At that time its cars bore the name of Richard Brasier, but in 1905 Georges Richard left the firm to found Unic.

The Gordon-Bennett of 1904 was won by Théry driving a 4-cylinder 9869 cc Richard Brasier with a maximum power of 80 bhp at an average speed of 54.214 mph. Théry also won in 1905 at an average of 48.735 mph. The 1905 Richard Brasier was even more powerful than the previous year’s car (96 bhp at 1,200 revs) due to an increase in the engine’s capacity (11259 cc). The Brasier Type VL was the last twin-cylinder to be built by the firm and remained in production until 1908. However, from 1905, with the departure of Richard , the company’s name was reduced to Brasier. It was managed by Henry Brasier.
In 1930 the company was overcome by the economic crisis. Between 1905 and 1930 Brasier did not completely give up racing, but apart from 4th , 7th and 9th place in the 1906 French G.P. it did not achieve any great success. Brasier models were also produced in Italy as Fides. They built three models (small, medium and large capacities), but these were unsuccessful.

Bugatti 5 Litres Roland
Garros ‘Black Bess’
Bugatti 50 T
Bugatti 57 S
Bugatti 41 Royale
The name Ettore Bugatti is immortal in motoring history. He had an extraordinary personality and his creations were highly original. He had a unique understanding of how to infuse art into a product that until then had lacked almost any artistic merit, expressing it itself only in the brute force of its engine. Ettore Bugatti’s motto was , ‘Un’opera tecnica non può essure perfetta se non è perfetta dal punto di vista estetico’. (A piece of engineering cannot be perfect if it is not perfect from the aesthetic view-point.)

He was born in Milan on September 15, 1881 and died in the American hospital at Neuilly near paris on August 21, 1947. He retained his Italian citizenship despite spending a large part of his life at Molsheim in Alsace where the Bugatti factory was situated. The make itself had, on the other hand, always been regarded as French although Molshiem was in fact German territory until 1918. In 1898 at age of 18 he became a regular apprentice with Prinetti & Stucchi, after having designed a tricycle for them in 1895. In 1900, under the patronage of Count Gulinelli, he designed and built a proper 4-wheeler. This was unveiled at the first international exhibition of cars at Malan winning the prize offered by the city council for the best Italian design for a car. This car excited the interest of the French firm De Dietrich who wanted to buy it form Ettore Bugatti as well as offering him a job as their technical director. Bugatti accepted and he remained with De Dietrich until 1904. He collaborated briefly with Mathis and then he sold another of his designs to Deutz of Cologne of which he was also technical director.

Car : Bugatti 50 T
Year : 1932
Engine : 8 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 86×107 mm
Cylinder capacity : 4972 cc
Gears : 3 forward
Brake horse power :200
Maximum speed : 105 mph
Wheelbase : 10 ft 2 ins (3.10 m)
Suspension : front: semi-elliptic leaf- springs ;
rear : upside down ¼ elliptic leaf- springs

At the age of 28, with the help of the Alsatian banker de Vizcaya (two of whose sons were later to become Bugatti drivers), Ettore founded his own factory at Molsheim near Strasbourg. The first cars to emerge from his factory were the 13, the 15 and the 17. These all had 4-cylinder 1327 cc engines and the differences between them were confined to the wheelbase. The mono-bloc engine had a single overhead camshaft, two valves per cylinder, magneto ignition, and oil bathed (wet) multi-plate clutch, a 4-speed transmission and the hand brake acted on the rear wheels. The total production of the type 12 and its various derivatives up to the modified type Brescia was 2,400 – 2,500 cars, of which about 2,000 had 16 valves.
Between 1912 and 1913 five or six chassis were prepared at Molsheim intended for use on racing cars. These were the first large engined cars. The engine had a capacity of 5027 cc, three main bearings and three valves per cylinder (two inlet and one exhaust), a pattern that was to become standard on Bugatti products. The overhead camshaft was driven by vertical shaft and this also drove the magneto and the water pump. The wheelbase of the chassis was 8 feet 4 inches (2.84 m) and its width (track) was 4 feet 1 inch (1.24 m). It had chain drive, a method that had by then been discarded by virtually every manufacturer and which suggests that Ettore Bugatti had designed this car much earlier. The brake pedal acted on the transmission and the hand brake acted on the rear drums. Of particular interest was the 5-litre pear-shaped radiator which it adopted a year in advance of the small capacity machines. One of these machines was given the nickname ‘Black Bess’. Officially it was clled Roland Garros after a French aviator who had ordered a machine with a 500 cc engine from Bugatti.

The 50 T was modeled on the 46 and had the same chassis but with a shorter wheelbase, 10 feet 2 inches (3.10 m) as against 11 feet 6 inches ( 3.50 m). Sixty-five of them were built between 1930 and 1934, the majority of which had short chassis. It differed from the 46 only in the suspension and a few other details. The 50 did not enjoy much racing success and it seem that it was heavily criticized by its drivers for its poor road holding. It was not a successful model and stands as one of Bugatti’s few failures. The Type 57 appeared at the Paris Motor Show of 1933 and deliveries to customers began in 1934. It also had a ‘personal’ history, being to a great extent designed by Jean Bugatti, Ettore’s son who died whilst testinga Type 57 G that was to race in the La Baule G.P. The engine had twin overhead camshafts and a dry single plate clutch. Below the semi-elliptic leaf-spring front suspension there was a flexible mounting to prevent the steering being jolted. Contrary to Jean’s advice at had right hand drive.
In 1936, after 300 units had already been produced , the Type 57’s engine was mounted on four rubber supports, the single body carburetor was replaced by a double body carburetor, hydraulic brakes were fitted (Lockheed) and the De Ram Allinquant telescopic shock absorbers. The most important modification was the addition of a supercharger. Maximum power rose from 130 bhp at 4,500 revs to 160 bhp at 5,000 revs and the maximum speed increased from 90-93 mph to 102-106 mph. A total of 750 57s were produced.

The design of the Royale was absolutely unique and the actual number that were built still remains a mystery. Some chassis have had more than one body which had added to the uncertainty. The makers of the car knew it by its workshop designation, the Type 41, and it was named the Royale by Ettore Bugatti as he intended that its clientele would be royalty.
An English journalist, W. F. Bradley was a friend of Bugatti and knew a great deal about the career of the Royale. Bradley states that the name Royale comes from the fact that the reigning King of Spain, Alfonso XIII, wished to buy the first production model. He had seen it at the San Sebastian G.P. at which Ettore Bugatti drove the prototype. Unfortunately, Alfonso XIII was deposed before the machine was finished. It is known that other monarchs such as the Kings of Albania and Romania visited Bugatti in order to buy the Royale, but again neither actually purchased the car. As Clifford Penn wittily wrote in ‘Autocar’ , the Type 41 was one of the Queens of cars but it was never the car of a king. Andre Citroën was another potential customer, but all names of purchasers were kept as secret as possible.
Car : Bugatti 57 S
Year : 1936
Engine : 8 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 72×100 mm
Cylinder capacity : 3257 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power :180
Maximum speed : 110 mph
Wheelbase : 9 ft 9½ ins (2.98 m)
Suspension : front: semi-elliptic leaf- springs ;
rear : upside down ¼ elliptic leaf- springs and hydraulic shock-absorbers

Car : Bugatti 41 Royale
Year : 1925-1933
Engine : 8 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 125×130 mm
Cylinder capacity : 12760 cc
Gears : 3 forward
Brake horse power :300
Maximum speed : 120 mph
Wheelbase : 14 ft 2 ins (4.31 m)
Suspension : front: semi-elliptic leaf- springs ;
rear : upside down ¼ elliptic leaf- springs and hydraulic shock-absorbers

Maurice Smith, editor of ‘Autocar’ visited the Molsheim factory and was able to ascertain that there were six Royales, including the prototype, in production. Paul Kestler, another Bugatti historian believes that there are seven Royales because the six known cars all had a wheelbase of 15 feet (4.57 m), whereas the prototype had a wheelbase of 14 feet (4.27m). Ettore Bugatti had an accident in one Royale, the four window Weymann, whilst traveling from Strasbourg to Paris. He hit a tree but did not receive any serious injuries. There is speculation as to whether the chassis was rebuilt and the car was transformed into a coupé Napoleon to a design of Jean Bugatti, or whether it was destroyed in the accident. Because the rebuilt car also had a wheelbase of 15 feet (4.57 m), Kestler deduces that the prototype that was involved in the accident was completely destroyed.
The first Royale was sold in 1932 to the French textile manufacturer Armand Esders. The body, a 2-seater roadster was personally designed by Jean and hydraulic shock-absorbers. It was later given a new body (coupé de ville). The second was sold, also in 1932, to the German gynecologist Joseph Fuchs as a 2-door cabriolet by the car body designer Ludwig Weinberger in Bavaria. The third was delivered to the English landowner W. Foster in 1933 who had it built as a 7-seater limousine by Parl Ward of London. The three remaining Royales stayed with the Bugatti family.

This included the prototype which had several different bodies: a torpedo inspired by a Packard of the time; a 2-door sedan by the Paris designer Kellner, which was displayed at the London Motor Show of 1932 and subsequently passed to Ettore’s daughter Ebé Bugatti; a touring sedan with a partition which was built in the factory; and a sedan de ville or coupé Napoleon which is its present form. All six Royales have survived, two of which are in France and four are in the U.S.A., one Royale being on display in the Ford Museum.
The Royale is still one of the longest cars that has ever been built with a length of 19 feet 8 inches (5.99 m). In the final version it was powered by a 12760 cc 8-cylinder in line engine but the prototype had an even larger capacity (14726 cc). Its maximum power was 300 bhp at 2,000 revs. The weight varied, depending on the type of body, between 4,970 pounds (2,250 kg) and 6,620 pounds (3,000 kg). The chassis cost F500,000 (the equivalent of £5,250 at that time) whilst a Rolls-Royce Phantom with body cost £2,000.
Ettore Bugatti was so convinced of the Royale’s mechanical perfection that he guaranteed it for life provided that it remained in the hands of the owner. Its claimed maximum speed was 124 mph.

Chenard-Walcker
Car : Chenard-Walcker
Year : 1926
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 66×80 mm
Cylinder capacity : 1095 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power :-
Maximum speed : 93 mph
Wheelbase : –
Suspension : front and rear : semi-elliptic leaf- springs ;
Chenard-Walcker has an important place in the history of racing through its victory with Lagache and Leonard in the first Le Mans 24 Hour race in 1923 though the firm did not concentrate solely on racing. It was founded in 1898 at Asnières and it latter moved to Gennevilliers taking the name of Société Anonymedes Anciens Etablissements Chenard & Walcker.

The Chenard-Walcker car pictured here won its class in the 1925 Le Mans 24 Hour. In 1926 it was awarded the Coupe Boillot at Boulogne and its class in the Spanish G.P. of the same year. A feature of this car was its unattractive but functional tank shaped body which brought back memories of similar Bugatti and Voisin bodies. The tank’s 4-cylinder engine had overhead valves, only two main bearings and it had oversized inlet valves. Some versions were also supercharged and this raised the maximum speed to more than 105 mph (more than 93 mph in a non-supercharged engine). This French firm gave up racing in 1927, returning to it ten year later in the 1937 Le Mans 24 Hour, but by then it had lost its individuality and its reputation of being unbeatable. Car production ceased in 1946 and in 1951 it was absorbed by Peugeot.