Bugatti Type 50t Coach Profilée

There is a remarkable harmony in the design of this Bugatti. All the lines support and accentuate one another. It is both classic and avant-garde at the same time.

There is a remarkable harmony in the design of this Bugatti. All the lines support and accentuate one another. It is both classic and avant garde at the same time. Note the extremely low rake of the windscreen, less than thirty degrees. The exceptionally beautiful and at the same time forward looking design of this Bugatti Type 50T coach profilee was created by Jean Bugatti, the son of Ettore. When he designs this car, he is only 23 years old. Jean is also responsible for the choice of technology. He advises his father to buy two American Miller racing cars and study their engineering. From these, Ettore adopts the technology of the twin overhead camshafts and the V shaped valve layout, and uses it to modify his own engines. In this way he installs a 200 hp five liter eight cylinder engine, equipped with these modifications, in the chassis of a Type 46 to create a sporty passenger car, the Type 50. The talented Jean Bugatti dies in 1939 at the age of 30 during a test drive in a T57 racing car, when he hits a tree while trying to avoid a cyclist. This is one of the two surviving examples of the Bugatti Type 50T Coach Profilee. The car is named Best of Show at the Pebble Beach concours delegance in 1964.