1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Coupé

I remember as a kid, I had the chance to visit Tom Perkin’s warehouse in San Francisco in which he had the greatest collection of supercharged cars in the world. Yes — the same Tom Perkin’s who was the venture capitalist from Silicon Valley lore. His collection was dispersed though given some antics in the financial world. The 2.9 Alfa went to Mozart. The ex-Count Trossi SSK Mercedes and the Bugatti Atlantic ended up with Lauren. All three of these great supercharged cars ended up after restoration in winning the Pebble Beach concours d’elegance and deservedly so.

As much I like the Bugatti Atlantic, I always envisioned it in my mind as a modernized sportscar. Thus re-lofting of fenders, roofline, larger door opening (and DLO), modern glass (front / rear) and McLaren GT wheels (and modern driveline). But I kept the basic character of the car without too much alteration.

I’ve seen a few modern interpretations of the Bugatti Atlantic Coupe (and was involved with one a few years ago) — but all of them lost the true character of the original design as there was inevitably too many cooks stirring the pot…