The car was converted to aluminum wheels to bring it to 35B specs, but it is more authentic as a road car
Chassis number: BC31 (not original Bugatti number)
Engine number: 70
If ever there was a name synonymous with the Bugatti Owners’ Club, it is that of aficionado Jack Perkins. As a past editor of Bugantics, a director of the Bugatti Owners’ Club and chairman of the Competitions Committee, he knew one or two things about making a Bugatti go that little bit quicker than the competition.
Perkins was a highly successful businessman and managing director of John M Perkins & Smith Limited, drill manufacturers. As a mechanical engineer, he took a keen interest in Bugattis, owning a Type 35B and a Type 35C. This 35B is exceptionally well known, having been at virtually every Bugatti Owners’ Club hillclimb at Prescott from the late 1950s to the late 1970s, often setting fastest time of the day and breaking course records.
Perkins discovered this Bugatti in 1950 at an aerodrome in Nottinghamshire, U.K., where the ground staff were driving it around for fun. The body, original engine and gearbox had been removed, and the chassis fitted with a Vauxhall engine. Jack purchased the car from Duncan Reid, and through various contacts, obtained a correct Type 35 engine and supercharger. He sourced all the other items needed to restore the car directly from Bugatti at Molsheim.
The engine is number 70, originally fitted to unblown Type 35 chassis number 4748, which had been used extensively in period by O.A. “Bunny” Phillips of California. Phillips installed a 2.3-liter crankshaft, fitted a supercharger to convert the engine to Type 35B specification, and raced it extensively, most notably at the Indianapolis 500 and Vanderbilt Cup in 1936 and the American National Championship races in 1938.
The chassis is an original item bearing frame number 141 stamped inside the rear channel-section cross-member, and is believed most probably to be number 4721. However, the chassis number has never been confirmed, and consequently the frame currently carries the Bugatti Club number BC31.
In the early 1950s, Jack Perkins set about building the fastest possible Type 35B, and together with his mechanic Eric Mason, an ex-speedway racer, used a Type 51 crankshaft and new cylinder blocks and pistons to build a methanol-burning engine. To accommodate the single-seater configuration, HWM rack-and-pinion steering was employed while Girling hydraulic brakes were fitted to improve the stopping power. Additional suspension damping was provided by Newton telescopic shock absorbers, and to harness the extra power, Perkins specified a Borg & Beck clutch, Hardy-Spicer propshaft and twin rear wheels for extra grip. The chassis was then fitted with a streamlined single-seater body fabricated in aluminum.
aluminum. Perkins’ Type 35B made its debut at Prescott on May 9, 1954, setting a best time of 52.15 seconds. Perkins continued to campaign the single-seater until his last meeting in June 1988; by then he was 78 years old and in declining health, so he decided to retire from the sport that had given him so much pleasure for so long.
It was then decided that the Bugatti should be returned to its original two-seater Grand Prix specification, and historic racing specialist Rod Jolley was appointed to carry out the work, which was completed in the mid-1990s. After a long battle with illness, Perkins passed away in August 1992, shortly before the restoration was completed. Perkins’ widow, Jean Perkins, decided to put the Bugatti on display at the Haynes Motor Museum in Somerset, U.K., where it remained until December 2010. The car’s mechanical condition is not known, and it will require recommissioning at the very least before being returned to active service.
Historically important Bugattis come onto the open market only rarely, and this example represents an exciting opportunity to acquire a Type 35 in the model’s ultimate supercharged configuration, eligible for all categories of historic competition.
SCM Analysis
Detailing
| Vehicle: | 1925 Bugatti Type 35B Grand Prix Racer |
| Number Produced: | Race cars about 220. Road cars about 140 |
| Original List Price: | n/a |
| SCM Valuation: | $650,000 to $1m |
| Tune Up Cost: | $1,000 |
| Chassis Number Location: | On the rear left engine leg, next to engine number |
| Engine Number Location: | On the left rear engine leg |
| Club Info: | American Bugatti Club |
| Website: | http://www.americanbugatticlub.org |
This car, Lot 452, sold for $689,181, including buyer’s premium, at the Bonhams Goodwood sale on July 1, 2011.
In the world of motor racing, half a decade is a very long time — especially in the 1920s, when technology was evolving at a rapid pace. But between 1925 and 1930, the Bugatti Type 35 was the car to beat.
Strangely, Ettore Bugatti was not simply concerned with efficiency. His cars also had to look good. Open the hood of a 35, and a visual delight awaits you. The tapered chassis at the rear was made to follow the body line — and not because it was more efficient. The aluminum wheels were radical, and in reality a real step forward, but one has to wonder if they were not initially designed just to look pretty.
Of course the Type 35 evolved over the years, starting with a nonblown, 2-liter straight eight, and finishing with the almost visually identical Type 51, which boasted a 2.3-liter, twin overhead cam, supercharged engine. The most successful version was the Type 35B, with a 2.3-liter, single-cam engine and supercharger. By the time the ultimate Type 51 arrived, competition from other marques was getting much stiffer, but it was still competitive in the early 1930s.
Racing and road versions
With a few modern-day exceptions, most race car manufacturers make competition cars for one reason — to sell road cars. Racing improves the breed, and publicity from winning sells cars. Bugatti was no exception. The road cars used de-tuned Type 35 engines, and with the racing success of the Grand Prix car, Bugatti decided to market a road-going version of the Type 35, with the appellation 35A.
The 35A, in an effort to keep costs down, featured wire wheels with smaller brakes, a basic 2-liter non-blown engine and cycle fenders. Apart from that, it was visually the same. You still had to climb over the body to get in, you still burned your legs on the gearbox, and you had to strap a rucksack onto the spare wheel to travel with anything more than a toothbrush. If it rained, you got wet.
But despite the lack of creature comforts, the 35A sold quite well. It was the ultimate car for wealthy boy racers.
Jack Perkins found our subject car during the early 1950s. As found, the car was without bodywork, and it was fitted with a Vauxhall engine and gearbox. Perkins purchased an original Type 35 engine from Bunny Phillips in America. Bunny had installed a Miller V8 in his Type 35 for racing purposes, so he had no need of the engine.
The lump Perkins acquired in the U.S. was a 2-liter, non-supercharged unit, which he rebuilt as a 2.3 with blower, mated to a correct original gearbox. A single-seat body was made for the car, and hydraulic brakes and a modern steering box were installed.
Perkins then used the car for the next 30 years, running the Prescott Hill Climb two or three times a year with much success. Strangely, he never used the car anywhere else.
In the late 1980s, old age and bad health forced him to abandon the Prescott Hill Climb, and he decided to restore the car back to its original state.
This is where the story gets more messy.
A good bitsa — but still a bitsa
The original chassis number is unknown, but Bonhams states that this car is a 35B. When Perkins found the car, it had wire wheels, and he continued to race it in this configuration. So the chassis is actually from a road-going 35A. Changing from wire to aluminum wheels is no easy job, as the brake drums are integrated in the alloys and the hubs are different. The engine in the car started life as a 2-liter, non-blown unit, albeit to roller-bearing race specs. During the restoration, the car was converted to aluminum wheels with a view to bringing it to 35B spec, but in reality it would have been more authentic as a road car.
So what is it worth?
Values of Type 35 Bugattis are hampered by a proliferation of good quality replicas. Turning up in one at a meet has about the same impact as appearing in a Cobra. People automatically think it’s a fake. But buyers of these cars have become more sophisticated as prices have risen. It’s extremely unlikely that anyone will put his hand up for a Type 35 without seeing a written report by an expert.
There are very few 35s left that retain all their original major components, including the body. The last truly great 35B to come up for sale was the 1929 Monaco Grand Prix winner. It did not sell at Bonhams’ Goodwood sale in 2005 at $3.25m, but it did change hands a few months later for similar money. It’s safe to assume that the same car would bring somewhere close to $5m today, and a no-stories road car is now worth more than $1.5m.
But the difference in value is staggering from the very best Type 35 to a bitsa Type 35.
Our subject car is a bitsa, but all the major components excepting the body are original Bugatti. If the car’s identity had not been lost, it would be more desirable, as a Bugatti Club moniker always drags the value down. I’d say this sale of our subject car was on the money. But the chances of the car increasing in value over the next few years are negligible. Let’s hope the new owner bought it to have fun and not for investment. ?
(Vehicle description courtesy of Bonhams.)