Sports car,The Pre-war era

Sandwiched between the Great Depression and the Second World War, the 1930s were a period of decline in importance for sports car manufacturers, although the period was not devoid of advances, for example streamlining. Cheap, light-weight family saloons with independent front suspension by firms such as BMW, Citroen and Fiat challenged the standards of road-holding and comfort available from much more expensive sports cars. Powerful, reliable and economical (although softly suspended) American saloons began to be imported to Europe in significant numbers. In turn, inexpensive small sports cars, based on popular touring car chassis and suspension (for example Austin and Wolseley) increased ownership of sports cars while not necessarily advancing limitations in engine output and road-holding inherited from their mass-produced components.

The most successful sports car firm, commercially, in the 1930s was Morris Garages, who manufactured more sports cars than any other. Cecil Kimber's MG "Midget" evolved from the late-1920s M-Type, through the J-Type and P-Type to the definitive 1936 T-Type which was produced until 1955. The T-Type featured a modern for the period 1292 c.c. push-rod overhead-valve engine with improved performance and less mechanical noise, improved chassis and powerful hydraulic brakes. The competition C-Type was also popular. A six-cylinder range included, in chronological order, the F-Type Magna, K-Type Magnette, L-Type Magna, and N-Type Magnette. From the K-Type the immensely fast K3 competition versions were developed, capable of 110 mph in supercharged form, and performing extremely well in the Mille Miglia, Tourist Trophy and 24 Hours of Le Mans. MG's competition department closed due to business concerns in 1935.

The decade saw production of some truly remarkable models from Bugatti, culminating in the Grande Routière-styled T57 Atlantics, designed by Ettore Bugatti's son Jean, and now among the most valuable cars in the world. Bugatti produced the eight-cylinder T57, which replaced all previous road-going models, in a variety of bodystyles from formal four-door sedans to sporty roadsters and the striking two-door coupés, which were based on the prototype 'Aerolithe' shown at the 1935 Paris Motor Show, and said to have been constructed from 'Electron' magnesium alloy (debated by some historians). The T57 was also remarkably successful in sports car races, famously including a version with advanced aerodynamics winning Le Mans in 1937, the first time for a French car in over a decade and 1939 (the final 24 Hours of Le Mans before the second World War). Jean Bugatti, forbidden by his father from racing, was tragically killed in a crash while road testing the Le Mans winning T57 at more than 200 km/h, after the race in 1939, shortly before the outbreak of war. Ettore Bugatti was forced by the occupying Nazi regime to sell his company in 1940, and he died of an illness in 1947 leaving over a thousand patents ranging from bicycles to aircraft.