One hundred years of Bugatti Brescia
The Type 13 is the second model from the French company, named after the city of Lombardy after its victory at the Grand Prix des Voiturettes in 1921 at the Montichiari circuit. At the wheel was the mechanic, test driver and pilot Ernest Friderich, an old acquaintance of Ettore Bugatti and a key figure in the company
It is the first Bugatti model in history to be commercialized, as well as one of the most successful Bugattis of all time along with the Type 35 and Type 57. The Type 13 went into production in 1910 and in September 1921 celebrated its greatest triumph at the Grand Prix for Voiturettes, near Brescia. Before it, its brilliant inventor had experimented for about ten years through several prototypes for de Dietrich, for Emile Mathis in Strasbourg and for Gas Motoren Deutz in Cologne. Prototypes that he had developed thanks to his intuition and talent, after only a brief period of training at Prinetti & Stucchi in Milan.
A thoroughbred of mechanics. In the meantime, five cars of the first model that Ettore Bugatti designed on his own, without constraints from any client, were sold. It was the Type 10, much appreciated for its nervous character and high performance, and for this reason it was nicknamed “Petit pure-sang” (four cylinders 62×100, overhead camshaft). By then the Molsheim-based company, founded in 1909, was well underway, and the Type 13, the second model produced – with its four-cylinder 65×100, 4 valves per cylinder, overhead camshaft (40-50 hp), 4 gears plus reverse and rear suspension with inverted quarter-ellipse leaf springs – recorded a sales exploit of 65 cars. As reported by Pierre Dumont in the book Bugatti. Le “Pure Sang” de Molsheim, the number 13 indicates the displacement of the engine, of 1300 cc.
An honored sporting career. The Type 13 name also includes the Bugatti Type 15 and 17, both with an extended wheelbase. The bodies were often touring cars, as with the car with chassis number #950 and engine #524, which was originally a two-seater. This rarity was exhibited at the 2020 edition of the Auto e Moto d’Epoca fair in Padova as the only star in the Historic Club Schio and the Bugatti Club Italia booths. The reason? The 10th anniversary of the model, of course. But also the fact that the penultimate owner of this Bugatti, the entrepreneur Gian Luigi Saccardo, was born and operated in the territory of Schio, in the province of Vicenza. In 1961, in France, he may have bought the Bugatti without a body and restored it by fitting a racing one: the same body as when the T13 won the 1920 International Cup of Voiturettes at Le Mans with the unfailing French driver and technician Ernest Friderich. Apparently, it was indeed her, this specimen: called, not coincidentally, Bugatti Type 13 “Le Mans”.
A piece of history saved. In 1988, the Venetian entrepreneur sold the racer, which has since been restored two more times. In total, to their knowledge, seven custodians have taken turns. The last one, Marcello Braccaioli, kept it in Carpi from 1988 to the early 1990s. The Bugatti was then seized by a bank and was later purchased, in a dismantled state, at auction in 1993 by the current owner, who had it restored by Sandro Bergami. When the restoration was complete, the Type 13 resumed participation in several Mille Miglia: it could be seen there, for example, in 2004. It garnered much respect during that event, being the oldest car to compete.
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