Posted on 04/01/2024 10:25:21 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Type 57 SC Atlantic disappeared back in 1938
The upcoming auction of a Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Recreation by RM Sotheby's in Dubai has sparked immense interest due to its ties to an elusive piece of automotive history. This particular model pays homage to the original Type 57 SC Atlantic, one of the rarest and most iconic cars ever produced.
Ettore Bugatti crafted only four of these masterpieces between 1936 and 1938, each embodying the pinnacle of automotive engineering and design at the time.
The body of the original Atlantic was the brainchild of Jean Bugatti, Ettore's son, featuring revolutionary 'Art Deco' styling elements.
Bugatti.
While the intended material for the body was magnesium, practical limitations led to the use of aluminum. This exceptional vehicle, with its distinctive riveted construction and sleek profile, epitomized automotive elegance and performance.
The car's disappearance
However, the fate of one of these four Atlantics, chassis number 57453, remains shrouded in mystery. After being displayed at various events, the car vanished without a trace in 1938, fueling speculation and intrigue that persists to this day.
Theories abound regarding its disappearance, ranging from clandestine wartime transport to clandestine burial on private property.
The quest to recreate the allure of the lost Atlantic led engineer and Bugatti enthusiast Erik Koux to meticulously craft exact replicas, leveraging his extensive network within the Bugatti community.
One such recreation, mirroring the iconic "La Voiture Noire," was constructed on an authentic Bugatti Type 57 Galibier chassis. Finished in 1992, this replica has since garnered significant attention, even among Bugatti purists, despite its non-original status.
Expected to fetch between 650,000 and 830,000 euros at auction, this recreation serves as a poignant reminder of the enduring legacy of the original Atlantic.
Still, the mystique surrounding the lost masterpiece persists, with estimates suggesting a restored original could command well over 140 million euros if unearthed.
I’ll wait until I can get a left hand drive version...
Got a link without the giant popup in Italian, trying to make me signup?
What’s with the camber in the 2nd pic? Engine removed?
Did they check Leno’s garage?
Just drive it in reverse...........................
How many cup holders?
Independent suspension?.....................
In one of those car barns, I’ll bet
A Parisian businessman owned one of his cars, but reported having trouble starting it on cold days.
His numerous letters to Mr. Bugatti went unanswered for an extended length of time.
A business trip took the gentlemen to Strasbourg and while there he made the short drive to the Bugatti factory, where he presented himself to the secretary and demanded a meeting with Mr. Bugatti.
Not having an appointment, the man was kept waiting. Finally, Mr. Bugatti was leaving for lunch, the man stopped him and explained who he was and started to elaborate on the issue.
Mr. Bugatti stopped him: "Yes, I know the issue. You cannot start my car on cold days without some difficulty. Surely sir, if you can afford a Bugatti, you can afford a heated garage.
LOL
another interesting missing car story
“Mercedes buried in California lawn linked to former homeowner with history of arrests: ‘Checkered history’”
I have it.
Mounted a snow plow on the front.
The back was too low to mount my gun rack so had to put that in a different place.
Put a really nice set of horns on the hood .
But then I’d have to use the mirror and it would still be wrong!
I didn’t get that.
Cute li’l thang!
It’s in my garage.
The entire cast is amazing.
![Bugatti Veyron SS [monster truck] for Spin Tires](https://cs2.worldofmods.com/screenshots/f80ce/2016-11/original/a7f75778d4078a79fa5ea6782f3b7f83d8a39a3f/212369-SpinTires-2016-11-05-18-44-16-241.jpg)
Using weight and original price as a reference, I suspect that the Ford Pinto with 2.3L engine manufactured in Lima, Ohio, was the world’s most expensive car.
The 2.3L was a slug that could have been - early on - a blast, but the Ford Finance Committee got in the way.
Air Research was supplying turbo’s, and Ford was testing the turbo-charged engine in the Pinto and what would beome the Ford Mustang II.
With the 2.3LT, the cars were fun. (Note: The original Pinto, sans exhaust and big bumpers weights, using the 1.6L engine from Europe, was actually fun when wound up.)
But the Finance Committee decided, that the turbo-charged 2.3LT would not sell.
So the Pinto ended up with the 2.3L slug, with an added executive touch:
The Finance Committee figured that an oil supply hole in the connecting rod, could be eliminated, saving some money per rod per engine per car . . .
And so it was.
Except, many of the engines manufactured during that fiasco - years around 1974 - did not last as cylinders “burned up,” because of cylinder wall damage.
Customers would bring their Pinto into a Ford dealership and report:
“The engine runs fine, but when the car tries to get up to speed on the highway - especially into the wind - the car can barely do 50, and days later, 40, then 25! Which is how I got here with this . . . thing.”
As the cylinder compression ratio of one or more of the 4 cylinders, bottomed out.
Before Ford succeeded with the 2.3LT in the Mustang and Thunderbirds sales (1980’s) that were popular initially in the South, I would visit a small foundry just north of downtown Detroit. I had some aluminum prototype thing being developed. And I found some experimental 4-cyl double-over-head cam shaft Ford test engines in the works.
I was glad to see that progress.
Guarded by Linux attack penguins, no doubt.
That car looks to be the forerunner of a recent design fad: the cockpit you can barely see out of. Drove a rental one day just to learn what claustrophobia’s all about.
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