Bugatti Type 252

The Bugatti Type 252 was a one-off sports car developed by Bugatti between 1957 and 1962 that never went beyond the prototype stage. It was the last car proposed by the historic Bugatti brand before the marque was sold to Hispano-Suiza in 1963, the result of a mid-size sports car study by Roland Bugatti and styled by Giovanni Michelotti. It was reportedly pitched to several investors but never funded. The prototype is powered by a 1.5 litre inline four of 1,488 cubic centimetres with twin overhead camshafts and uses MacPherson strut suspension at the front and rear. During development the engine gave repeated trouble and test driver Pierre Macoin often broke down at the roadside, so to avoid unwanted publicity Bugatti fitted the prototype engine under the bonnet of a Type 73 saloon; later both engine and chassis were redesigned. Work on the suspension ran from August 1959 to 1962, when the project was abandoned. The car now resides in the Cité de l'Automobile museum in Mulhouse, France.