The beautiful Type 59 must be the ultimate Bugatti Grand Prix car.
(This is actually a replication built using many original Type 59 and Type 57 parts.)
Photo: Courtesy of the Guild of Automotive Restorers Reference

Type 59 was the logical evolution of the Bugatti GP cars descending from Type 35 through Type 51 and Type 54. It was designed for the new 750kg formula of 1934.
Because of its beauty it is one of the most glorified Bugattis, but Bugatti factory driver René Dreyfus has this to tell about Type 59 in his biography:

"Despite the diversity of personality, everyone in the Bugatti team got along well together. There was one thing we had in common. None of us liked the Type 59."

"Meo [Constantini, team manager] was the first to drive it, then me. The other team drivers followed. None of us cared for the car much in the beginning. We did love the look of it--the 59 was gorgeous, longer than the Type 51 and lower, a breathtaking machine to behold."

One of the most striking features of Type 59 is the radial spoke wheels, that we bugattistes love so dearly. So did Ettore, passionately! Not the team drivers, though. René Dreyfus again:

"And then there was the matter of the piano wire wheels. Ettore thought they provided more elasticity and would cool the brakes well, but probably more than that was the aesthetic pleasure they gave him. They where elegant. Le Patron was crazy about those wheels.
"We were not. [Due to the design] when the clutch was let out [...] the brake drum would create a knocking noice. It sounded like a loose rear end, but it wasn't--only the wheel. We complained about this on occation to M. Bugatti. 'Well, it's too bad', he would laugh. 'You'll have to get used to it'."

At least six, perhaps seven or nine, of Type 59 where built.