Jacob's Bugatti Pages
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Q-085: BUGATTI BLUE

Well, this question had to appear sooner or later, didn't it?
I know it has been debated in length and bredth, still is, and most likely forever will, so why should we not do so here too?

Don Fogle is the man who introduces it to this newsletter; he asks if I - or anyone else - can show him "a Pantone Matching System color that matches Bugatti Blue".

Well, the only actual Bugatti Blue colour code I have is the one used on the 100P aeroplane. A paint for it was developed by Dupont, and their code for it was - and actually still is! - "S55959-UM", and the name is, of course, "Bugatti Aircraft Blue".
A manufacturer of a scale model of the aeroplane recommended Humbrol #25 Blue as closest to this. Pim Faber recommends (in MBA Journal v5#2) to mix Humbrol #25 Blue (gloss) with #14 Blue (matte) in equal proportions.

When it comes to the colours of the racing cars, there really isn't any one Bugatti Blue, as this colour evolved over time.
It started out quite light, or pale - on photos of the first Type 35s at Lyon in 1924, the cars look almost white - while it became darker, and more purple, with time, to end up like something like what all the Bugatti racers in the Schlumpf collection has.

I have heard or read someplace that Mrs. Bugatti was in charge of the Bugatti Blue colour, and also that she used the blue of the packets of the famous French cigarettes Galoise as original.
Then one might think, great, so I buy a packet of the sigarettes to check with, but it isn't too far-fetch to assume that this colour has also changed with time.

A short sum-up: What Bugatti Blue is, is really different depending on what period of time we are talking about.

I'd be delighted to post any colour codes that describe various Bugatti Blues here in this newsletter. Original codes, as well as modern approximations or equivalents.

Or any other reflections on this matter.


#037 (8/3-1998):
Willie Mearns writes:
-----quote:---
I can't add much to the debate over precisely which shade of blue was used, other than give a source for the story about Mme. Bugatti testing the paintwork against a packet of Gauloises... It's from Roland Bugatti, and quoted on pp. 192-193 of Griffith Borgeson's "Bugatti by Borgeson - The Dynamics of Mythology"
---:unquote-----

Chapter II and IV of this book is, with additional illustrations, published in Automobile Quarterly, v19 #4. -Ed.


#038 (22/3-1998):
Frequent correspondent John Rudd writes:
-----quote:---
In the BOC Spare Part Book for 1982 is an entry labelled C17. It says:
"Official BOC colour card covering Bugatti blue, British Standard Reference 107 Strong Blue. Invaluable for achieving the correct blue paint shade. Quotes international Maunsell colour reference".
I assume this is still available from the BOC.

In The Bugatti Book by Eaglesfield and Hampton there appears the text of a magazine description of the first Type 35s. In part, it says:
"When it first appeared for the race at Lyons (1924) the little horizon-blue car captured the imagination instantly."
Unfortunately, the article is not attributed, but it may have been written by Bradley who was at the race.

But whoever wrote the article, there is a heck of a difference between "horizon blue" and British Standard Strong Blue.

Photographs of early Type 35s generally show them to be pale-coloured, though a car photographed in 1925 with one of the Italian drivers obviously is darker - maybe it was red.

But most of the cars at Schlumpf and most of the cars one sees elsewhere are darker blue, often with a purplish tinge.

It is notable too that pictures of the tank car show it as darker than the Lyons cars which appeared later.

So perhaps the Lyons cars were an aberration and Bugatti blue is the darker version.

Does Bugatti blue equate with French racing blue? Or is French racing blue the paler colour? Were the Lyons cars painted French racing blue, and other Bugattis painted Bugatti Blue?

The cigarette pack story told in the Borgeson book is believable enough, but as a matter of personal preference I like the lighter colour. For that reason the chassis of my Grand Sport Amilcar is painted that way. Original Amilcar literature describes one of the available colours as "bleu clair" which my French/English dictionary tells me means light or pale blue.

If it was good enough for the first Type 35s, then it's good enough for me! And because I don't own a Bugatti, I don't really have to worry too deeply about the right shade of paint!

So there we are - a few ideas; a little more confusion.
---unquote:------

I checked the current, 1997, "Bugatti Replacement Parts Catalogue" from BOC, and now entry C17 (page 14) reads:
"Official B.O.C. Color Card. British Standard Reference 107 strong blue. Quotes International Maunsell colour reference. BS2660 Extracted from BS381C 1964."


#039 (24/4-1998):
David Woodhouse writes:
---quote:---
It is my impression that the shade varied. There is no "official" French Blue any more than there is a particular British Racing Green or Italian Red.
I'm inclined to go along with the cigarette package theory for the middle years Bugattis but the real story may well be as simple as whatever blue paint was handy at the time. Certainly this is true of the Italian and British cars as Ferraris ranged from a deep maroon to near orange and BRM from light apple green to almost black.
Photos from the era of Bugatti works racing teams show the early cars to be quite light, appearing nearly white in the black and white prints. Around 1930 the team cars are noticeably darker, probably the color that most Bugatti GP cars are painted today. The T59s seem darker still.
Until convincing evidence to the contrary surfaces, I feel that there is no single shade of "Bugatti Blue" (or French Racing Blue, for that matter).
---:unquote---

From a correspondent, whose anonymity will be preserved, I have received a letter, which I take the liberty of forwarding a quote from here:

---quote:---
"Photographs of early T35's" are usually in Black and White so you can't tell whether they are light or medium anything. Schlumpf was a real cheapskate and painted all of his cars out of the same identical dark blue can and compounded the crime by using silver paint on many bright parts. Schlumpf Blue is just that - Schlumpf Blue.

The Gauloise cigarette story is probably as good as any which can be found whether it is true or not. At least it makes some sense. Especially when one realizes that although his design of the GP body was brilliant, EB was not so interested in the fabrication of the bodies. Much of this work was left to apprentices and perhaps the painting as well? Thus, I contend that in early times, the cars were painted in different batches resulting in (perhaps only slightly) different shades of blue. Over the years, the original paint faded or was overpainted so that cars began to look differently and these differences were in turn "interpreted" by later owners when having their cars repainted.

There are many other such details (color of rubber windshield apron - black or red, safety wires for the body screws - copper or white bronze etc etc) which keep Bugatti nuts arguing into the wee hours. It's fun which is why we do it. But is there a single REAL answer? I doubt it.

I defy anyone to go to a Bugatti event in modern times and find two cars painted the same blue. Everyone has a different idea. Thank God.

What is British Racing Green (BRG)? Again, go to a Bentley Drivers Club meet and see all the different shades of BRG. It's the same situation.
---:unquote---

Well, maybe we should all agree now that: Bugatti blue is ... blue.
Or wont I escape that easily?


#041 (5/6-1998):
Marco Bertazzoni writes:
---quote:---
As I know there never existed a proper Bugatti blue. The blue color got in the years darker and darker. The early Lyon cars had after the common opinions a verry light blue like the Gauloises cigarette boxes, and in the following years up to T 59 they got verry dark. Interesting is, that the T 59 G cars had a twotone paint of light and dark blue.
As I restored my car (a Type 51 -Ed.) I found 3 different blue tones plus some red paint rests. The blue colors went from a light baby blue, over a blue like you can find on a Renault 8 Gordini to a nearly night blue.
I decided to paint my car in the color the Schlumpf cars have. Because after Mr. Garnier, the director of the Muse National at Mulhouse, Fritz Schlumpf took the color that the Bugatti factory used in the post-war time. It is RAL 5119.
---:unquote---

Can you help?
Do you have any information on this, something to add, or further wonderings?
Please, send it to the editor! (Don't forget to state the QUESTION NUMBER!)


The accuracy of the above information is not guaranteed. However, the sincerest intentions of accuracy are assumed. Corrections and additions are highly encouraged.
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