Bugatti Trust Newsletter 45
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NEWSLETTER 45 A Charitable Trust whose objectives are to preserve and make available for study the works of Ettore Bugatti Founded by Hugh G. Conway, C.B.E. in 1987 For the advancement of education through the study of the works of Ettore Bugatti Contacts: David Morys Libby Oakley Office Hours: Monday – Friday 10.00 a.m. – 4.00 p.m. Address: The Bugatti Trust, Prescott Hill, Gotherington, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL52 9RD, UK Tel. +44(0)1242 677201 Fax +44(0)1242 674191 E-mail: [email protected] www.bugatti-trust.co.uk Trustees H.R.G. Conway (Chairman), C.D. Dean, A. Hucke, B.B.D. Kain, A.K. Leith (US), M. Preston, A.B. Price, G.S. St. John, A.C. Trevelyan, Sir John Venables-Llewelyn The content of this Newsletter represents the opinion of individual contributors which are not necessarily shared by the editor and trustees. The Bugatti Trust is proud to display ‘Bugatti Rendevous’ a painting by Philip E West depicting Bugatti’s 100P plane soaring over the heads of Ettore and De Monge and the famous Bugatti Atlantic 1 The Bugatti Trust – Winter 2013 Foreword At the last Prescott hill-climb meeting aero engine produced under licence by in October a number of visitors came to Charles B King. the Trust for the first time. In the current environment it is perhaps inevitable What we have been lacking however is that many see Bugatti as no more an example of one of Bugatti’s earlier than a maker of deco art automobiles models. It is very pleasing therefore commanding record values at auction. to acknowledge our gratitude to Sarah Rheault and the American Friends of So we are always happy to take the the Bugatti Trust for the gift of an early opportunity to explain the Trust’s 8-valve crank-case. Delivery is expected educational objectives and show shortly. examples of Ettore’s engineering achievements. First time visitors too Our objective then will be to build it up may be unaware that the talent extended as an interesting display to provide an over three generations – four if you example of Ettore’s early work. Many include Carlo’s father Giovanni Luigi, ancillary parts are needed so if any of best known for his ornamental chimney you know of the whereabouts of suitable pieces. engine parts – provenance and condition immaterial – please let us know. Casual visitors make a contribution to the Trust’s running costs through a Two items have been received already as small entrance fee. Recent changes to a result of our earlier appeal but there is Charitable Gift Aid provisions have still a long way to go. made it easier to reclaim the tax on small donations. We have also reached an We have recently written to advise agreement with the BOC for the Club that we have set up a Bugatti Trust to contribute to the Trust’s costs when Facebook Group. The aim is to improve it opens on certain hill-climb days. On our communication with members these occasions entry for all visitors will by providing regular updates and be free of charge. photographs, news items about research discoveries and publications, visitors Of course the success of this will depend to the Trust, new initiatives linked with very much upon getting sufficient week- engineering degree courses and schools. end volunteer assistance. If you can Trust members activities around the be available, even for limited periods, world, topical exhibitions, events and please get in touch. We would welcome anniversaries and all things Bugatti your help as we would at any time. that might be of interest to you will be included. Amongst the variety of items in the Trust we have several engines on display We hope you find the contents and have at last completed our 57. Our interesting and welcome your help and earliest example is the 16-cylinder news clips to make it a success. The Bugatti Trust – Winter 2013 2 Noel Domboy on his time with Bugatti (part 1) A.B. Price Noel Domboy joined Bugatti in May 1932 and retired in 1965. Some years later the Bugatti family asked him to write down recollections of working for Ettore. He begins by explaining that he joined after the ‘glory years’ of the Bugatti racing successes and thus knew little of the early days. He goes on to say that the personality of Ettore is already well known but recalls incidents which are not without interest. Noel Domboy His narrative is often duplicated but it is as he wrote. Hugh Conway senior managed to discover the whereabouts of Noel “A personality like EB is very difficult Domboy, the chief engineer at Molsheim to describe, his complex character is during the 30s and an energetic difficult to analyse”. Domboy thinks that correspondence followed for several he is not perhaps the one to portray ‘this years. Some of this material appeared genial creator’. in Bugantics 25 years ago but a detailed study of more than 50 letters written in “Le Patron never neglected to go the 1970s and 80s now in the Bugatti back to first principles. Many times I Trust archives reveal further facts which have heard speak of calculations «à la are of interest from a social history point Bugatti» by those who did not know of view, in addition to information about the care Le Patron took in his designs works organisation and engineering which he checked and then had them matters. checked again by his staff to verify the dimensions and correctness for the We have not had the experience of stresses involved.” occupation by a brutal regime and the disruption of the lives of Bugatti “By grace of vigorous methods, an personnel during this period is to be intellectual discipline was acquired to a noted. Now that those who worked with high degree including the art of the best Bugatti, even in the final years are all use of materials. It also goes without dead, these letters by Noel Domboy are saying that EB could conceive and as close to the ‘horses mouth’ as we machine himself the different pieces shall ever discover. I have translated the of an assembly. In this connection it is extracts ‘verbatim’ in order that we can necessary to relate, contrary to opinions better understand the personality of Noel often repeated, that EB would design Domboy, the professional mechanical without thinking through the practical engineer. realisation, counting on his genius 3 The Bugatti Trust – Winter 2013 and gift of improvisation. Nothing is from 1904, which serve as witness to his more wrong, Le Patron never designed activities in the world of research.” anything that he was not able to make with the means at his disposal or without Domboy does not mention France in this intending to create such means. He had list, “it would be fastidious to reproduce constantly in his head the dimensional a complete list of his patents during capacities of the Bugatti machine tools the life of the constructor EB. He was as well as the combinations which constantly inventive because he believed were permitted. In certain cases he there were two functions, construction conceived new machines or adaptations and invention, which were inseparable of existing machines – always the since he had an enterprising natural object of a plan – for projects to be tendency to invent.” made as well as possible and never any place for improvisation. In all cases, he “He well knew the state of automobile pursued the problem of manufacture engineering and all the fields of to the point which he knew was within activities which interested EB. One the operational range of the Molsheim imagines it wasn’t easy to leave dead Machine shop.” ends. However Le Patron never failed to cover new ideas by patents in order “The detail drawings carry, moreover, to protect his rights. On the other hand the indications of difficulties in the form he never would examine or simply of numbers of annotations relative to retain documents relating to a third the different operations through which party’s invention if the invention was the parts passed before arriving at their not covered by one or more patents. He finished state. never departed from this line of action which witnessed a correction ‘vis-à-vis’ For the most part, Le Patron conceived of others. Among these inventions the the principal tooling and then passed the most remarkable are for cars or more sketches down to a draughtsman charged generally for locomotion. I wasn’t in with making drawings to be passed his domain when his activity was most to the machine shop. The chief relied fruitful. He covered all aspects from totally upon their competence. I have the engines, gearboxes, clutches, brakes left until now to one side that which and even up to the wheels and tyres. concerns inventions of EB. There are On April 22nd 1929 he patented in some 600 patents which he registered France under the number 694279, the List of Patents Country No of Patents Country No of Patents Germany 121 Soviet Union 1 (further research needed) UK 139 Spain 6 USA 91 Sweden 1 Belgium 81 Czechoslovakia 1 Italy 142 Holland 1 Switzerland 35 Denmark 1 Austria 17 Norway 1 The Bugatti Trust – Winter 2013 4 principle of hydraulic brakes applied to ‘Presidential’, was put into service in four wheels of a car – a type of brake 1933 on the track Paris-Chartres via actually employed throughout the world. Gallandon – an obsolete line only used Firms which thus equip their cars in for testing rolling stock.