1939 Bugatti Type 57C “Tank” Pilots: J-P. Wimille, P. Veyron Team: Jean-Pierre Wimille Race: 1st overall (class S 5.0) at Le Mans in 1939 Ixo - LM 1939 (diecast)
Published 05/23/17
After finally winning in 1937, old man Ettore Bugatti didn’t want to go back to La Sarthe. He would only do so if the car could break the 57G’s 1937 record (3287,938 km in 243 laps). Even though that record was not broken in 1938, Ettore’s son, Jean Bugatti, was able to persuade his father to race again at Le Mans. Ettore accepted, but with one condition: only one car was to be raced. So Jean developed the 57C Tank basically a 57G but with a longer chassis and with a mechanical compressor installed in the same inline 8 cylinder engine.
Despite having mechanical issues in the first half of the race, the 57C Tank came in first, and even completed 3354.76 km in 248 laps, a new record for the race. Sadly though, shortly after winning at La Sarthe, Jean Bugatti took the winning car for a test drive on the Molsheim-Strasbourg road. During the ride, swerving to avoid a drunken bicyclist on the road, Bugatti crashed the car and died at age 30 . The model is pretty nice (look at those wheels!) but unfortunately mine came with a missing windshield. I’m debating on what to do – maybe a scratch-built solution? If I find the right clear PVC sheet I think that is the way to go. Lovely model nonetheless .
UPDATE!
Published 06/22/17
FINALLY fixed the Bugatti! Last week I found a clear sheet of plastic in the appropriate thickness. Consequently, I was able to cut it down to size. However, maybe it’s 1 mm taller than the original stock one. And, specially, the corners should have a form of indentation but I wasn’t able to replicate it. The plastic I used was too thick to cut with a blade and too brittle to file away 🙁 . I tried using a thinner strip of plastic, but then up close the model didn’t look too good. That being so, unless you knew how the car actually looked, you wouldn’t notice my windshield hack job.
Well, MUCH better now 😏.