As automakers struggle to regain their footing during the coronavirus pandemic, the effects of social distancing and shutdowns on the wider secondhand and enthusiast market remains to be seen. With events like the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance canceled and Monterey Car Week switched to an online streaming format in concert with the Petersen Automotive Museum, a new paradigm has clearly been set. Now, following suit is the privately-owned Mullin Automotive Museum of Oxnard, California, which offered a look under the hood of an early 1931 Bugatti Type 50S as part of a new series going in-depth on some of the museum's stunning early automobiles.
Bugatti's Brilliant History
Today, just about everyone knows that Bugatti builds some of the world's fastest and most expensive cars. While the Veyron and its Chiron successor supercars (Divo included) have set new standards in the modern supercar era, Bugatti's long history actually goes back much farther—and the French marque has been a pace-setter the whole.
A Quick Look
The Mullin Museum's new series includes quick primers on pristine examples of significant French automobiles. In this case, docent Bill Smailes presents the Bugatti Type 50S, which came about as Jean Bugatti convinced his father, the legendary Ettore, to expand his horizons and consider how period competition was developing potent performers.
The result came in the form of the 50S, which was powered by a supercharged double-overhead camshaft straight-eight powerplant that produced a mammoth 225 horsepower—and this was 1931!
Luxury And Power
As Smailes explains it, the Type 50S truly was a hot rod for its time, drawing on the successes of Bugatti's own racing program but also injecting a sense of style and luxury into the mix. The 50S was actually so potent that hesitations emerged surrounding actually allowing it to be driven on the tiny roads of the UK. If that doesn't sound like it led directly to Bugatti's modern ethos, nothing else will.
Sources: Youtube, Mullinautomotivemuseum