Topic: Jesus God Almighty! Bugatti La Royale 41-100 Lives again! (Read 1343 times)

I guarantee you the car in the OP will get a lot more looks on the road, and will definitely have the valet running to your car at the Ritz.

I rather doubt that Le Patron would have sold a Royale to the so-called "British Royal Family", what with them having changed the name during WWI and being dangerously inbred.

"Crafted by Ettore Bugatti, the Type 41 is said to have come about because he took exception to the comments of an English lady who compared his cars unfavourably with those of Rolls-Royce.[1]

The prototype had a near 15-litre capacity engine. The production version, its stroke reduced from 150 mm (5.9 in) to 130 mm (5.1 in) had a displacement of 12.7 litres.[3] The engine was built around a single huge block, and at (apx. 4.5 ft (1.4 m) long x 3.5 ft (1.1 m) high), is one of the largest automobile engines ever made, producing 205 to 223 kW (275 to 300 hp). Its eight cylinders, bored to 125 mm (4.9 in) and with a stroke length of 130 mm (5.1 in), each displaced more than the entire engine of the contemporary Type 40 touring car. It had 3 valves per cylinder (two inlet:one exhaust) driven by a centrally positioned single overhead camshaft. Three bearings and only a single custom carburettor was needed. The engine was based on an aero-engine design that had been designed for the French Air Ministry, but never produced in that configuration.[3]

The chassis was understandably substantial, with a conventional semi-elliptic leaf spring suspension arrangement at the front.[3] At the rear the forward-facing Bugatti quarter-elliptics were supplemented by a second set facing to the rear.[3]

Strangely, for the modern day observer, the aluminium clutch box was attached to the chassis, not to the engine, and the gear box, also in aluminium was attached to the rear axle, so was part of the unsprung mass of the suspension. The reason placing clutch and gearbox at such odd locations was reducing noise, so increasing comfort inside the cars, a difficult problem in those days. On the other hand, in view of the Royale's huge mass, placing the gearbox on the rear axle did not present a driveability problem.

Massive brake shoes were mechanically operated via cable controls: the brakes were effective but without servo-assistance required significant muscle power from the driver.[3] The car's cast "Roue Royale" wheels measured 610 mm (24 inches) in diameter.

Reflecting some tradition-based fashions of the time, the driver was confronted by a series of knobs of whalebone, while the steering wheel was covered with walnut.[3]

A road test performed in 1926 by W.F. Bradley at the request of Ettore Bugatti for the Autocar magazine proved how exquisite chassis construction allowed very good and balanced handling at speed, similar to smaller Bugatti sports cars, despite the car's weight and size.[4]

All Royales were individually bodied. The radiator cap was a posed elephant, a sculpture by Ettore's brother Rembrandt Bugatti"

" Intended for royalty, none was eventually sold to any royals, and Bugatti even refused to sell one to King Zog of Albania, claiming that "the man's table manners are beyond belief!"

Le Pur Sang forever!

I don't see Queen Elizabeth the second riding that car. And note, she was born in 1926 too.

A Royale "scrap metal"?

I have no words.

Nice piece of scrap metal there. But that skeleton of a horse with a skeleton of a man on top of it is much more disturbing.

This on the hand is my (future)car

 

http://www.bugattipage.com/2011news.htm

Specifications of La Royale 41-100:

Engine over 14 litres dispacement.

Wheelbase over 14 ft (4.3 metres!).

Two speed transmission with two speed back axle.

 Bugatti Royale Prototype recreation presented at Molsheim Festival

During the Bugatti Festival, which took place in Molsheim in the weekend of September 9-11 in splendid weather conditons, the recreation of the Prototype Royale (Chassis 41.100) was unveiled to the event partakers, and in the afternoon presented to all enthusiasts present.
The original prototype first received a Packard body, was then rebodied into a Coupé Fiacre, then into a Saloon Fiacre, and finally into a Weymann Coach. In this last car, Ettore crashed. After this, 41.100 was rebuilt, and received the current Coupé Napoleon body. However, some sources indicate that for this second version of 41.100 no parts of the original prototype were used, and that the chassis frame and some other parts (front axle mainly) of the prototype did indeed survive.

According to the owner and builders of the recreation presented in Molsheim on September 10, these parts were used for this recreation, as well as an original Packard body. Though the owners intend to fit the car with an early Royale engine (with double ignition on either side of the block), the car at this moment has the 2nd Tom Wheatcroft engine, as the original Bugatti engine needed too much overhaul to be ready in time. Due to problems with the gearbox, the car did not run at the time of the presentation. The Recreation of the Prototype Royale was done by Hevec Classics in the Netherlands, for an undisclosed owner who is also Dutch. The instruments were recreated by Martin IJdo of Historic Engineering in the Netherlands.

The unveiling was done at the HardtMuhle, the original part of the factory (still existing and maintained on the grounds of Messier-Bugatti) at the exact location where a photograph of the original was taken. At that moment Ettore was standing beside the Royale on his horse, reenacted now by his granddaughter Caroline Bugatti.

When inspecting the Royale from up close, one can see that the fnish is superb, and that hood!! it must be the longest in the history of the automobile! Very impressive! The wheels and tires may look odd, but that is because these were in fact different for the Prototype than for the later "production" Royales, which are of course much better known. The Binder Coupé de Ville was also present at the Festival in Molsheim, and was presented for the jury.