Bugatti Reviews

The book consists of two parts: a development/race history of the Grand Prix Bugattis, and an extremely detailed technical description of the cars (you could almost build one given the description here...).

In the humble opinion of this auto enthusiast reader, one problem with this little Bugatti book is that no book on Bugatti should be little. Everything about Bugatti was larger than life: the stature of its founder, the aura of its reputation and prestige, and, clearly, many of the cars themselves that bore the name. But the book's dimensions aside, somehow it doesn't convey the magnificence of these automobiles of yore.

Laurence Meredith's "Bugatti" is an appropriate addition, perhaps, to a Bugatti enthusiast's collection of books on the marvellous marque, but it is not a very enlightening overview, which, in fairness, it was most likely not meant to be. Its underlying purpose notwithstanding, the the book's text seemed absent of focus, a bit rambling, and, for this reader, it included too much commentary concerning the Bugatti Owners' Club in Prescott, England, for a book directed to the general public.

There are ample photos, all black and white, which can be refreshing in our technicolor world, but many are of rather amateurish "snapshot" calibre. Some judicious cropping under the eye of an editor with even a modicum of experience would have gone a long way to enhancing many of the images. Of interest to some readers, the photos include a number of close-in views of technical details such as chain-drive mechanisms and a steering box (which the author admits to finding "'sculpturally' interesting"). Presumably included for comparison and contrast, photos of other classic marques, while some are impressive, seem superfluous for a small book entitled simply, "Bugatti". Finally, too many of the photo captions are redundant vis a vis their content; others are bland or even silly.

Credit where it's due, Meredith clearly did his research, collected his photos, mingled with hard-core Bugatti preservationists, then valiantly attempted to portray the marque in about 120 pages. What seems to be missing is the "Wow!" factor that Bugatti so richly deserves. Then, too, maybe that's just a Yank reader's yearning for hyperbole -- to which he's all too accustomed -- in response to a Brit writer's apparent penchant for understatement.