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A spate of very unconventional designs, all of them too far ahead of their time, appeared in France towards the end of the 1920s. The Buc or Bucciali, incorporating features that did not become common until the 1960s, was one of these. The Bucs of 1923 to 1924 were Violet-inspired 2-strokes, a twin followed by a V4. In 1925 came the conventional Buc AB 4/5 with 1.6-litre ohc S.C.A.P. engine, followed by a 70bhp Buc AB6 6-cylinder. Of these, only the Buc AB 4/5 was made in series. The Buc TAN of 1928 was completely unconventional, except for its power unit, which was a medium-sized sv engine available in 6- or 8-cylinder form. It served only as a means of propulsion for the assembly of novelties which made up the rest of the car; front-wheel drive, independent suspension on rubber to all 4 wheels, and Sensaud de Lavaud infinitely-variable automatic transmission. The most exotic Bucciali was built in 1931 to 1932, an is said never to have run under its own power, although the chassis survives today. This was the Bucciali Double Huit, powered by two 3.8-litre Continental straight-8 cylinder blocks mounted side-by-side on an aluminium crankcase. Two crankshafts geared together, and two radiators were used. After this, the last Bucciali model seemed something of an anticlimax, fine car though it was. This was the Bucciali TAV-12, a front-wheel-drive machine powered by a V12 Voisin engine. Only two were made. In all 151 Bucs or Bucciali were made, of which 38 were front-wheel-drive models.
Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; TRN
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