I am trying to find out how many T40, 44 and type 46 chassis were fitted with the Weymann coach style body as seen on the prototype Royale. I cannot get onto the Wiki anymore to have a good look. Also, are there any that are still around?

Hi Greg

Herewith the 3 T46 still fitted with two-door Weyman bodies :

46163


46219


46241


Kind Regards
Johan

And now for the T49. A very scientific researcher I am, I went to the Register, clicked on T49 chassis numbers and then went down the list right-clicking-and-Open-in-a-new-Tab those that looked a bit liked a Weyman. Not a single one by Weyman I'm afraid, but herewith all the existing 4-light, 2-door Coupes :

49576 Gangloff.


49559 Van Vooren


49545 Coachbuilder unknown


49414 Van Vooren


49362 Van Vooren


49194 Designed by Jean Bugatti.


I would love to do the T44 & 40 but American Idol starts shortly and I'm bone-idle lazy.

Kind Regards
Johan

The WIKI still works... You should be able to access it.

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http://www.bugattiregister.com/wiki/index.php?search=weymann&go=Go

Above link should help you. (you will need to login, however)

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Thanks for your help everyone- I am amazed that there are so many missing spaces on the list of Type 46's. The Wienberger for Fuchs for example (was it a 46 or a 50?), you would have thought that one possible to trace.
Strangely enough, I saw 46163 for sale in an ad in Classic & Sportscar in about 2003, I rang up about it but it had sold very quickly for about £70000, the dealer said that he wished he could get hold of some more!

http://www.bugattibuilder.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=383&p=2162&hilit=weinberger#p2162

see above topic for some info on the fuchs 46

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Vive la Marque !!

Of the 400 T46s built only 60 survive. Of the 65 T50s a mere 20 remain. The photos survive, we can still gaze in wonder. It will have to do.











Goodnight
Johan Buchner

These big cars were of course very uneconomic to run, combined with a high scrap value, with a lot of costly aluminium.

Logical that many were scrapped in the after-war years, and a much more economical 2CV was bought!

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As I was saying earlier, noone can really say if the Fuchs car was a Type 46 or a 50T.
Both had the same wheelbase and both could have the same wheel centres.
Gerald Wingrove did so much research into the Royale that replaced this car,but drew a blank about it. Fuchs even had a Type 35 which also has no information known.
Those Type 50 engines are great for making Type 54 reps though.

Greg,
An important point about Weymann bodied cars is that they sold licences to other coachbuilders to make 'Weymann' bodies. I had thought that these licences were simply for the basic Weymann principle of using flexible joints in the framing and covering with fabric but I now realise that this is not the case. My T44 has a 'Weymann' faux cabriolet built by Harrington and it is clear that the design and styling are by Weymann because there are other cars by other coachbuilders that had the same styling. Harrington, and other English coachbuilders, called this style a Sportsman's Coupe and fitted hood, or landau, irons. What we tend to forget today is that closed bodies were more desirable in the 1920s but also more expensive so buyers bought tourers as a cheaper option. When the cars were used throughout the year obviouisly a closed car was desirable.
Weymann bodies are usually much lighter than metal panelled traditional coachwork and it appears that they are also more durable if looked after - the important thing is to ensure that they are watertight, water in the structure is usually terminal! My car has never had the body lifted from the chassis in 81 years and over 300,000 miles. It is still mostly rattle and squeak free and is quite a testament to Weymann's ideas.

Am I the only Bugatti enthusiast who hates these T46/50's? Or maybe the only one on the forum who has actually worked on them? They were scrapped because they were no good.end of story.There are many other big cars that survived because they were good designs.

The thing is though John, whether they were good or not is open to debate. The 46 was by Bugatti standards a good seller for an expensive car so must have had some merit. The Type 50 was a very powerful car so in its day must have been quite exciting. Obviously today they may be old chuggers but they quite often had handsome coachwork with a lot of presence.
You could continue that argument with the 251, which was an unmitigated disaster, but interesting all the same.

Have YOU restored one?

Well no... I haven't restored a space shuttle either but I bet its a bit a pig to work on. Still a nice object though.