Bugatti Type 51

The Bugatti Type 51 succeeded the Type 35 as Bugatti's leading Grand Prix car of the early 1930s. Its main distinction was a twin overhead camshaft engine, a development of the supercharged 2.3 litre single overhead camshaft straight-eight of the Type 35B, producing 160 horsepower. Jean Bugatti, who was taking more responsibility at the firm, drew on two Miller racing cars that Ettore Bugatti had acquired from the American racer Leon Duray in 1929; their cylinder head and hemispherical combustion chamber served as a template, which is why the car is sometimes called the Millerhead. The first Type 51 went into production in 1931 and a victory in the French Grand Prix that year was a good start, and in 1933 Achille Varzi won the Monaco Grand Prix in one, beating Tazio Nuvolari. About 40 examples of the Type 51 and 51A were built, but the series could not match the government-supported German and Italian teams.