Bugatti Design Study Project
Updated: 26 February 2008
The Bugatti Trust has provided support for a project to reverse engineer the Type 35 Grand Prix Bugatti.

For the past two years Stuart Brown, an engineering student at the Open University, has undertaken a detailed study one of the most successful and iconic vintage racing cars using the latest sophisticated 3D CAD (three dimensional computer aided design) software

Drawings of the many hundreds of parts needed to create the Type 35 Grand Prix Bugatti have been scanned and converted to three dimensional images using SolidWorks® 3D CAD software. The components are then built up into assemblies to make up the complete car.

It has taken Stuart Brown several thousand hours to complete the task but he says that the project totally enthralled him. “By being able to input all the parts individually and analyse the whole I was able to see just how close to a genius Ettore Bugatti was and study how he was able to get to the optimal design without the aid of a computer”.

The use of SolidWorks software, which is one of the leading products used primarily by mechanical engineers and designers allows a detailed analysis of the individual components and where necessary will allow the Bugatti Trust in future to add to the service it currently gives to the owners of existing cars.

The Trust in its commitment to the study of the works of Ettore Bugatti offers encouragement to young people to take up careers in engineering and design. CAD software is an integral part of many university engineering and design curricula.

A successful project to create and analyse the Grand Prix Bugatti demonstrates the importance of the creative and individual approach of Ettore Bugatti and provides a bridge to the modern computer design processes.

For further information on Stuart Brown’s reverse engineering project visit his web site at http://www.whitney-paine.com