1934 Bugatti Type 57 ‘Imaginaire’

This car, and dozens of others with similar histories, attests to the enormous popularity of classic cars today. This body never existed when its chassis was manufactured. The design was a proposition offered to clients of the Gangloff coachworks in Alsace but never taken up. In 1990, more than half a century after the chassis was made, a Bugatti enthusiast who saw the original side-view sketch – and who had the means – commissioned its construction in a British restoration shop and some subliminal changes are made to overcome weakness in the original conception.

With this example every attempt was made to be correct. The chassis owner was able to contact the retired artisan who drew the original sketch at the Gangloff works, enlisted his aid, and acquired a handsome machine as a result. It may well be automatically beautiful, but it is not at all beautifully authentic.

These extracts are taken from Auto Legends: Classics of Style and Design by Michel Zumbrunn, text by Robert Cumberford which was published in October by Merrell