The Bugatti Type 18, also called the Garros, is an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

produced from 1912 through 1914. Produced shortly after the start of the business, the design was something of a relic. It had much in common with the cars

Ettore Bugatti Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti (15 September 1881 – 21 August 1947) was an Italian-born French automobile designer and manufacturer. He is remembered as the founder and proprietor of the automobile manufacturing company Automobiles E. Bugatti, wh ...

had designed for

Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik Deutz AG is a German internal combustion engine manufacturer, based in Porz, Cologne, Germany. History The company was founded by Nicolaus Otto, the inventor of the four-stroke internal combustion engine, and his partner Eugen Langen on 31 ...

but with the radiator of the Type 13. Only seven examples were built, and three are known to survive.

Engine

Power came from a large 5.0 L (5027 cc/306 in³)

straight-4 A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...

engine with 3 valves per cylinder and a

single overhead cam An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...

shaft. This large engine had a 100 mm bore and very long 160 mm stroke, so it could only rev to about 2400 rpm. Power was transferred through a multi-plate metal-on-metal clutch to a 4-speed with reverse manual transmission. Two chains - one exposed each side outside of the main chassis rails - drove the rear wheels, with the factory providing three sets of rear wheel chain sprockets, which meant the maximum speed was close to .

Chassis No. 474 "Black Bess"

The first car in the series, No.471, was actively campaigned by Ettore Bugatti himself in competition in 1912. No.472 was delivered new to Paris, and No.473 was delivered new to Alfred Hielle of Schoenlinde, a close friend of Ettore Bugatti. Chassis No.474 was also sold to a friend of Ettore's in a marketing coup, the French aviator and sportsman Roland Garros (1888-1918). On supply of his chassis on 18 September 1913, Garros commissioned a torpedo-body by Labourdette with off-set seating. Having been flying and piloting early aeroplanes privately since 1910, at the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Garros became a French Army fighter pilot, and was killed in 1918. A keen tennis player the French Open was named after Garros in 1927. The car was sold post WWI to Louis Coatalen, the chief engineer of the

Sunbeam Motor Car Company Sunbeam Motor Car Company Limited was a British automobile manufacturer with its works at Moorfields in Blakenhall, a suburb of Wolverhampton in Staffordshire, now West Midlands. Its Sunbeam name had been registered by John Marston in 1888 fo ...

. In 1922 it was bought British racing driver and garage owner

Ivy Cummings Ivy Cummings (19011971) was an early racing car driver, reputedly the youngest person ever to lap Brooklands. In 2009 her Bugatti car sold for over £2m. Biography Ivy Leona Cummings was born in Edmonton on 27 October 1901 to Sydney George and ...

. He named the car "Black Bess" after highway man

Dick Turpin Richard Turpin (bapt. 21 September 1705 – 7 April 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's trade as a butcher ear ...

's mare. The car had a considerable career at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

in the 1920's. In 1925 it was sold to

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

student L H Preston, who continued to race the car under the name "Black Bess". Sold a year later to a then young actor

James Robertson Justice James Robertson Justice (15 June 1907 – 2 July 1975) was a British actor. He is best remembered for portraying pompous authority figures in comedies including each of the seven films in the ''Doctor'' series. He also co-starred with Grego ...

, he had it shipped to McEvoy’s of

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

to be rebuilt. Due to time pressures on McEvoy's to complete other projects and Justice's lack of cash funds, it was found in 1933 by Bill Boddy (later editor of Motor Sport magazine), and subsequently purchased from McEvoy's by Bugatti UK Owners’ Club president Colonel G.M. Giles. Fully restored, it was then raced again by the Colonel and his brother Eric at classic racing events. Stored during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it was bought in 1948 for £400 and joined a private collection in the UK, where it remained until 1988. "Black Bess" was bought on 7 February 2009 for €2,427,500 by

Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought to ...

in Paris, and is now on public display in the

Louwman Museum The Louwman Museum is a museum for historic cars, coaches, and motorcycles in The Hague, Netherlands. It is situated on the Leidsestraatweg near the A44 highway. The museum's former names are "Nationaal Automobiel Museum" and "Louwman Collectio ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. 1913 Bugatti Type 18 1.jpg 1913 Bugatti Type 18 SportsTwo seater Black Bess p1.JPG 1913 Bugatti Type 18 SportsTwo seater Black Bess p2.JPG

Surviving examples

There are three cars surviving. Alongside "Black Bess"", No.715 is on public display at the Schlumpf Collection, Musée National de l'Automobile de Mulhouse in France. The third car, on chassis No.471 but with a different chassis's engine, is privately owned in England.

References

External links

{{Bugatti road car timeline 18 Cars introduced in 1912