Historic Racing News, January 15, 2019
'The Type 50's supercharged 4.9-litre straight-eight was prodigiously powerful - and in the days when winning the Le Mans 24 Hours required brute force, the Type 50 led the race at Bugatti's first attempt. The car that led the 1931 race, chassis number 50177, is the focal point of this book. The authors also tell the story of the Type 50 in general, its predecessor the Type 46, the engineering genius of Ettore and Jean Bugatti, and the talented drivers who raced 50177. Driven by top racers Louis Chiron and Achille Varzi, this car had to be withdrawn from its leading position at Le Mans for safety reasons after the crash suffered type problems, a sister car crashing heavily at high speed, just one of the many fascinating tales within the 320 pages of this superbly illustrated book.
Retro-Speed, March 2019
'Whenever a book from Porter Press International arrives for review you just know it's going to be something special, and that's how it is with this latest title.
'This is a serious reference book that includes, not only factory records, event regulations and rare images (including a later gallery showing up-tp-date restoration), but a complete section given over to 'The drivers', including Chiron, Varzi and Veyron, and another detailing its 50-year life in America before coming to Europe. The only thing missing is a tabulation of race results.
'So there you have it, another in the Great Cars book series from Porter Press. The Company is promising twenty new titles before the end of 2019. Can they maintain their standards? We can only wait and see, but the future, as they say, is looking good.'
b-c-ing-u.com, March 2019
'Making zero apology for a large slice of self-aggrandisement…Bugatti is my favourite classic (and modern) car marque and Porter Press is the finest book publisher in the automotive scene…the combination of a Bug Type 50 presented in its ultimate form is like a dream come true. It would be too facile to describe these books as ‘coffee-table’, because all thirteen of them have been so informative that residing on the table-top is the last thing that will happen!
'Within the content of this superb book you will find reproduced letters and documentation gathered by Miles Coverdale, who owned the car from 1976 to 1999. His invaluable research, which included communications with factory mechanic, Robert Aumaitre (while he was still alive), helped to piece together the story. It is supported by the extensive Bugatti archive, a lot of which had been saved and built by Sr. Romano Artioli, who reintroduced Bugatti to the world in the early-1990s. It is an immensely important car in Bugatti’s extensive history and this fine reference book ensures that its inner secrets are made available to a much wider audience.'
Classic Car Weekly, April 2019
'A great car deserves a great book and, for the Bugatti Type 50 and Le Mans racer chassis number 50177 in particular, this is it.'
'Incredibly detailed and well-researched by two acknowledged marque experts, containing a superb, almost breath-taking collection of large format images, this is a must for Bugatti enthusiasts. It's expensive, but its quality justifies the price.'
The Automobile, May 2019
'Marque enthusiasts and collectors of the Great Cars series will not be disappointed.'
Classic & Sports Car, June 2019
'Written by Mark Morris and Julius Kruta, two hugely respected marque historians, this 320-page book fastidiously covers Bugatti's first twin-cam Le Mans contender, which entered the race in 1931, '34 and '35.
'The superbly printed story is broken up with investigations into the 1931 Dunlop type dramas, the mystery of the black paint finish, histories of sister Type 50 team cars and biographies of team drivers. The book features a wealth of pre-war photographs, many never published before, which are worth the price alone. A must-buy for Bugatti fans.'