Bugatti Type 35 — Handmade Metal Model Racing Car

Ettore Bugatti's masterpiece, in hand-formed iron.

The Type 35 is the rare racing car that was also beautiful, and deliberately so — Bugatti trained as an artist before he built engines, and treated the shape of a component as a matter of taste rather than only of function.

Details

• Handcrafted iron frame and body
• Metal wheels that roll
• Hand-painted with applied detail
• Horseshoe grille, tapered tail and open cockpit
• Exposed suspension and exhaust detail
• Ready to display

The car

What made the Type 35 dominant was not raw power — the straight-eight produced under 100 horsepower in early form. It was that everything else was right: hollow front axles to save weight, cast alloy wheels with integral brake drums, and a chassis that handled better than anything on the grid.

Bugatti sold it to anyone who could pay, so private teams filled entry lists across Europe with them. The type is credited with over a thousand wins, including five straight Targa Florios between 1925 and 1929.