What is Bugatti Blue

                                              I would like to start up a little debate regarding the correct Bugatti blue colour.

                                              As far as I can see, a number of colours have been used over the past 80 years, my particular quest is the correct colour
                                              for a 1925 T35.

                                             Well, the only actual Bugatti Blue colour code I have come across is the one used on the 100P aeroplane, developed by
                                              Dupont, their code is S55959-UM, and the name is, of course, "Bugatti Aircraft Blue".

                                            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, sometimes called "horizon blue". 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 something like all the Bugatti racers in the 
                                             Schlumpf collection.

                                            You may have heard of the story of  Mrs. Bugatti, who was supposedly in charge of the Bugatti
                                            Blue colour, using the blue of the packets of her French cigarettes Galoise (she was in good
                                            company as Jean-Paul Sartre and Pablo Picasso were also fans).

                                            I thought I would investigate this story and contacted the present owners of the Galoise brand
                                            "Altadis SA". Their archive department was extremely helpful providing a picture of a 1925 version
                                            of the packet (colour match on the computer is not quite right, but is close and has been
                                            checked by a Kodak expert I know) as original. The colour is nice, but I think a bit strong when
                                            compared with the b/w photos of the era.

                                            My next job is to compare the various original parts which I have, plus any I can borrow with varying residual amounts of
                                            paint on them against a known standard. I am going to use the "Pantone standard" as I grew up
                                           with this, codes in this standard can be converted to other standards i.e. ICI or Hex on computers.

                                                                             Finally should I come to some sort of definitive answer I would like to name it, in much the same
                                                                             way as Yves Klein. In 1947, Klein began making monochrome paintings, which he associated with
                                                                             freedom from ideas of representation or personal expression. A decade later, he developed his trademark,
                                                                             patented colour, International Klein Blue (IKB) (IKB, =PB29, =CI 77007). This colour, he believed, had
                                                                             a quality close to pure space, and he associated it with immaterial values beyond what can be seen or
                                                                             touched. He described it as ‘a Blue in itself, disengaged from all functional justification’. Klein made
                                 around 200 monochrome paintings using IKB. He did not give titles to these works but, after his death, his widow assigned a
                                 number to each one. 

                                 See also http://www.bugattipage.com/jacob/InfoHunt/Q-085.html

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                            ‘And so, on to the 18th century and blue as the national colour of revolutionary France, as it is still; to Berlin blue, Prussian blue,
                            Picasso, `the blues' of mood and music, and `Gauloises blue' of the cigarette packet which became 'a symbol of France' (The Spectator)

                                  Smoking Gauloises was also promoted as a contribution to the national good: a proportion of the profits from sale of Gauloises flowed to
                            the Regie Francais Tabacs, a semi-governmental corporation charged with both controlling the use of tobacco, especially by minors, and
                            directing its profits towards socially beneficial causes. The designers of the traditional Gauloise packet reinforced national identity by
                            selecting a peculiarly French shade of blue (like the blues used in the work of French artist Yves Klein http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Klein_Blue

                            Philippe Giron

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                Mystery Item

             Does anybody know what the following items are ? (the reference numbers are mine and offer no clues as to what the items are).

                        Thanks to Ruud Leenen from the Netherlands the following have been partly / fully identified.

GP front brake cam bush housing which has been cut off on the outer side ?

                             Don’t know dimension, but if there’s thread inside my best guess is the ‘nut’ for the half shaft bevel gear.
                          Some water pipe, don't know for what type but best guess is to go around the corner at the front of the engine.                          Has some resemblance with a water pump (mounting inside engine).
                          Alternative oil filter nut?
                    Spark plug cup type 57?
                    Looks like the piece that can be mounted on the dynamo shaft, to connect with the crankshaft so the dynamo will be driven

                                 Answers to Clive Godsell on clive@autochron.co.uk or 01442 873345

05/10/11