Post by oldirish33 on Nov 29, 2022 12:26:02 GMT -5
Bugatti T59 - 1934 Monaco GP - Le Mans Miniatures 1/18
Rene Dreyfus won the 1930 Monaco GP, giving Bugatti an important grand prix win in the T35. Dreyfus continued on with the Bugatti team racing until the end of the 1934 season when Bugatti turned from grand prix racing to sportscars. Dreyfus would go on to drive for Scuderia Ferrari for two seasons in their Alfa Romeos, establishing himself as one of the best pre-WWII drivers. Had war not intervened, as with so many drivers of that period, their potential for more great victories was never realized. I am a Bugatti fan and though I can never hope to own a 1:1 Bugatti, delight in scale versions of important Bugatti road and race cars. The 1934 Monaco GP was important as the introductory race for the T59, the last of the great Bugatti grand prix cars. This nice rendition of the T59 is made by Le Mans Miniatures and I just acquired it on a nice Black Friday sale. It comes as a nice set with Rene Dreyfus at the wheel, along with figures of Ettore and Jean Bugatti.
1934 saw the introduction of the Bugatti T59 grand prix car, whose introduction coincided with a change in regulations for Grand Prix racing. In addition to weight restrictions, in 1934, all Grand Prix races were to be a minimum of 500 Km in length. The Grand Prix at Monaco was granted an exception and its 100-lap race of 318 Km on Monaco streets was considered the equivalent on time to 500 Km length races. In addition to Bugatti, Alfa Romeo with its Tipo B/P3 and Maserati with its 8C were the top contenders and in fact qualified Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, Bugatti for the first five positions in qualifying for the 1934 Monaco GP. The first race of the 1934 GP season, the new Mercedes and Auto Union GP cars did not arrive. The race day which started out wet, dried to perfect race conditions on a beautiful warm Mediterranean afternoon.
Rene Dreyfus qualified his 3.3L straight-eight Bugatti T59 third on the grid and ahead of his teammate Tazio Nuvolari. The T59 used a modified T54 chassis with the engine sitting lower in the chassis to improve the cars center of gravity. The T59 was shod with unique and beautiful new disc wheels laced on the outside with piano wire. At the race start, Dreyfus was a close second to Louis Chiron in one of the five Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeos. Their close race lasted 40 laps when Dreyfus had to pit to remedy a slipping clutch, re-entering the race in third behind Guy Moll in an Alfa Romeo. At half distance he was passed by the Maserati of Whitney Straight going uphill towards the Monte Carlo Casino. The order was Chiron, Moll, Straight, Dreyfus and Nuvolari in the top five.
The race continued in this order until the closing laps when brakes and tires both began to fade. Holding a comfortable lead, Chiron slid his Alfa Romeo into the sandbags at the Station hairpin and could not get going again before his teammate Moll had passed him. Not long after, Straight in the Maserati slid off course and was able to resume the race, but well down the order. This elevated Dreyfus into third spot where he remained the rest of the race, giving Bugatti not a win, but a very good result for the first race of the new T59. Guy Moll won the race and would be the youngest Monaco GP winner until Lewis Hamilton won the F1 race there in 2008. The finishing order was Moll and Chiron in Alfas, Dreyfus in the Bugatti and Marcel Lehoux in another Alfa, passing Nuvolari in the other Bugatti Teams T59 for fourth. While Dreyfus would win the Belgian GP in the T59 at Spa in the rain, but with the might of the Mercedes and Auto Unions in GP racing in 1934, Bugatti looked to sportscar racing instead.
Rene Dreyfus won the 1930 Monaco GP, giving Bugatti an important grand prix win in the T35. Dreyfus continued on with the Bugatti team racing until the end of the 1934 season when Bugatti turned from grand prix racing to sportscars. Dreyfus would go on to drive for Scuderia Ferrari for two seasons in their Alfa Romeos, establishing himself as one of the best pre-WWII drivers. Had war not intervened, as with so many drivers of that period, their potential for more great victories was never realized. I am a Bugatti fan and though I can never hope to own a 1:1 Bugatti, delight in scale versions of important Bugatti road and race cars. The 1934 Monaco GP was important as the introductory race for the T59, the last of the great Bugatti grand prix cars. This nice rendition of the T59 is made by Le Mans Miniatures and I just acquired it on a nice Black Friday sale. It comes as a nice set with Rene Dreyfus at the wheel, along with figures of Ettore and Jean Bugatti.
1934 saw the introduction of the Bugatti T59 grand prix car, whose introduction coincided with a change in regulations for Grand Prix racing. In addition to weight restrictions, in 1934, all Grand Prix races were to be a minimum of 500 Km in length. The Grand Prix at Monaco was granted an exception and its 100-lap race of 318 Km on Monaco streets was considered the equivalent on time to 500 Km length races. In addition to Bugatti, Alfa Romeo with its Tipo B/P3 and Maserati with its 8C were the top contenders and in fact qualified Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, Bugatti for the first five positions in qualifying for the 1934 Monaco GP. The first race of the 1934 GP season, the new Mercedes and Auto Union GP cars did not arrive. The race day which started out wet, dried to perfect race conditions on a beautiful warm Mediterranean afternoon.
Rene Dreyfus qualified his 3.3L straight-eight Bugatti T59 third on the grid and ahead of his teammate Tazio Nuvolari. The T59 used a modified T54 chassis with the engine sitting lower in the chassis to improve the cars center of gravity. The T59 was shod with unique and beautiful new disc wheels laced on the outside with piano wire. At the race start, Dreyfus was a close second to Louis Chiron in one of the five Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeos. Their close race lasted 40 laps when Dreyfus had to pit to remedy a slipping clutch, re-entering the race in third behind Guy Moll in an Alfa Romeo. At half distance he was passed by the Maserati of Whitney Straight going uphill towards the Monte Carlo Casino. The order was Chiron, Moll, Straight, Dreyfus and Nuvolari in the top five.
The race continued in this order until the closing laps when brakes and tires both began to fade. Holding a comfortable lead, Chiron slid his Alfa Romeo into the sandbags at the Station hairpin and could not get going again before his teammate Moll had passed him. Not long after, Straight in the Maserati slid off course and was able to resume the race, but well down the order. This elevated Dreyfus into third spot where he remained the rest of the race, giving Bugatti not a win, but a very good result for the first race of the new T59. Guy Moll won the race and would be the youngest Monaco GP winner until Lewis Hamilton won the F1 race there in 2008. The finishing order was Moll and Chiron in Alfas, Dreyfus in the Bugatti and Marcel Lehoux in another Alfa, passing Nuvolari in the other Bugatti Teams T59 for fourth. While Dreyfus would win the Belgian GP in the T59 at Spa in the rain, but with the might of the Mercedes and Auto Unions in GP racing in 1934, Bugatti looked to sportscar racing instead.