The little One
Automobiles whose rear end is reminiscent of a boat in its shape, be it due to a tapered shape, the wooden planking or a keel-like design, are generally referred to as “boattails”. At least one Bugatti of the Type 40 was also dressed with it by a – unfortunately unknown – coach builder, because the Type 40 was built as a sedan with space for four passengers. A special feature was that there was only one entrance door.
The Type 40 was first produced on 25 June 1926 and was intended to be the successor to the Type 23 in the factory chronicle. The front engine was a water-cooled four-cylinder engine with a displacement of just under 1,500cc, which, with an output of 45 hp, resembled the highly-bred sports engine at the time and was derived from the Type 35. The special feature of the design were the valves, because each cylinder received its gasoline-air mixture via two intake valves, while the burnt exhaust gases only entered the exhaust through a single valve. With a maximum speed of up to 125 km/h – depending on the body – the “little Bugatti” was by no means slow for its vehicle class.
Assembly at the Molsheim factory ended in May 1931 after just under 800 units. There are three different figures in the literature about the exact number of produced vehicles, one mentions 765 vehicles, a second specks of 860 vehicles and a third specifies 775 vehicles. Deliveries to Brazil, Tunisia, Australia, Prague or Buenos Aires are known, but especially within France. But it was also available in Germany, at a price of 7,800 RM in 1929.
