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The Bugatti Type 57 started life in 1934 as the successor to the grand touring types 44 and 49 and turned out to be the last - and certainly the most refined - of the "Pur Sang" cars which formed the legend of "la Marque". The 3,3 litre eight cylinder DOHC engine showed the rectangular, clear design which Bugatti had developped in the early twenties. It was designed by Bugatti's talented son Jean, who apparently earlier on had convinced his father to introduce the principle of double overhead camshafts in the Types 50, 51 and 55. Later in its life the engine's breathing was improved by a supercharger. The all new engine was mounted in a deep channelled chassis tapering into the very delicate-looking dumbirons in the classic Bugatti style, including the forward facing cantilever springs at the rear and the famous forged tubular frontaxle. The four-speed gearbox was bolted to the engine and being driven through a standard dry clutch. The brakes were operated by cables until 1938. when hydraulic brakes, together with hydraulic shock absorbers were adopted. In 1936 the shorter, lower and more powerful Type 57S was introduced, which was to become the supercar of the late thirties. Only a very small number of these extremely expensive cars were ever built.
When the Type 57S was introduced, Jean Bugatti, together with Joseph Walter, designed two new bodies for it: The Atlantic with its backbone rib, along which the body halves were riveted together, a very early example of a fastback coupé and to quite a few enthusiasts the most beautiful body Bugatti ever built - and the Atalante, which I think beats the Atlantic in every respect! Jean Bugatti adapted the existing design for the type 57 chassis, to the shorter and lower new chassis. To my view, he achieved an incredible improvement of the already very beautiful shape. Now the proportions of the small "greenhouse" with ist nicely curved side windows in relation to the bonnet length, the envelopping wings and the tail were much better balanced. The lowering of the waistline enhanced the flow of the lines as did the the large sloping windscreen. Of the 17 Atalantes on 57S Chassis, not two seem to be alike: The headlights come as separate units, on some they are set into the wings, on others protrude from the valances between bonnet and wings. The tail mostly was rounded, but there are quite a few cars with the rear wings ending in fins. Another feature were the "spats" covering the rear wheels on some examples.
The Bugatti 57S Atalante
has been my favourite car ever since I saw it first in one of
those old "Cars in Profile” brochures, which were so easy
to come by in the Seventies. To me it was as attractive on the
technical side as I liked the shape of the body, which on its
introduction must have looked like from another planet! I soon
started drawing plans as I wanted to make a model of this beautiful
car, but eventually found out that this project was slightly
too ambitious for me at that time.
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