The Atlantic story of the Bugatti 57SC and the mystery surrounding its disappearance

The world is full of vintage cars that attract collectors. There are those who are lucky enough to buy them, there are those who instead have to limit themselves by wondering about them. However, one thing is certain: the most interesting historical cars are the ones that are almost impossible to own because they are so rare. So it’s a shame when you read that one of their models has disappeared. And so it happened Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlanticcoupe designed by Jean Bugatti and produced from 1936 to 1938, iOnly 4 copies. One of these units is true disappear into thin airfor a while now, and we don’t understand what happened to it.

The history of Bugatti and its disappearance

Before diving into the story, it’s good to give an overview of what the model actually is. Meanwhile, the car comes from Type 57 C and is also based on Aerolitheconcept car designed in 1935. It was then fitted with a 3257 cm³ inline 8-cylinder engine which, supercharged by a Roots supercharger, it made it up to 210 kilometers per hour. To reach this kind of high speed at that time was an amazing thing, it is not seen everywhere. Among other things, there are those who have defined it as the first supercar in history, perhaps for this reason. Furthermore, it combined legal and revolutionary elements with an ‘Art Deco’ design, the final design representing refinement and high performance.

To date, the three remaining examples belong to the American designer Ralph Lauren, the other was the first in the California Museum, then it was bought by the collector Peter Williamson and the third is known to exist but nothing else is known. The fourth, however, as we said at the beginning, is certain that it has disappeared. One of the few things that is known is that the car disappeared in 1938 in the Bordeaux area. What confused everything was the fact that the Second World War started shortly after, which did not help to monitor the Atlantic Ocean, whose fate is still shrouded in complete mystery. Some speculate that it was placed on a ship before the Nazis landed in France, while others say it was hidden so well that no one could find it.

Surely if anyone were lucky enough to find it, you would find a historical gem worth more than 130 million euros.

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