Bugatti Aerolithe 1 and only restored

This is the Bugatti Aerolithe 1 and only restored to absolute perfection by David Grainger, co-founder of Bradford, Ontario’s Guild of Automotive Restorers.

The famed manufacture Bugatti was and still is the epitome of all auto manufactures as far as I am concerned. I would have to say not only I am the one to think this either.

Chassis #57104 was found after being lost after it’s introduction many decades ago. The Jean Bugatti designed (Electron Coupe) so named because the body was done in a magnesium alloy called (Electron) had mysteriously disappeared shortly after its 1935 debut at the Paris Salon.

As it has been stated in the video Bugatti felt that he needed to use a material that the manufactures told him would not be functional for his purposes. As per usual Ettore Bugatti proved them wrong and made an ultra lightweight body from this material called Electron now known as Magnesium. The reason this car has the rivets all along holding the body panels together i because they could not weld Magnesium together giving this car it’s signature look.

Even though this car was made from a material that would be considered exotic even by todays standards there was something else that Ettore did to make these so incredible. These cars even way back in the 1930’s had 4 valve double overhead cam engines. Not only that but the engine and head were cast as one piece so there is no head gasket to ever worry about leaking. So all in all these cars had what took the car industry quite a few decades today to realize how things needed to be designed and built.

We have only recently started to go double overhead cam on most American manufactured engines. Ferrari and Lamborghini have been using double overhead cam engines for a long time but, even they too a while to go 4 valve like Bugatti did so long ago.

So it is no wonder that these cars are so valuable in almost every aspect of how they were designed not to mention how they where manufactured 😯