This $125K Bugatti Type 57SC Replica Is Really C4 Corvette Underneath
For Sale: Exotic French looks and reliable American hardware. What more do you need?
Ever wanted a Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic in your garage? If you don't have millions of dollars in a bank account ready to be spent, that dream is never going to become a reality. Fortunately, you can get pretty close thanks to this $125,000 replica currently for sale on Hemmings. It's not a legit Bugatti, of course, but it is a reasonably good replica as far as copies go, and it packs lots of impressive workmanship. Oh, and underneath it there's a C4 Corvette.
I wouldn't be writing about this thing if there wasn't something to it. Yes, it's a replica based on a C4, but the amount of custom fabrication work to get this thing to where it is now is incredible. The listing states several one-off castings were done to complete the project, and I'm assuming the body is completely custom as well, although the listing does not state as much.
Importantly, most of the interior of this car is done up as well, and many of the creature comforts like air conditioning remain intact. Yes, there is still a C4 Corvette shifter, and the original Corvette seats have been reused but reupholstered. Besides that, though, the dashboard, gauges, and door cards appear to be heavily altered, but they look to be relatively high-quality pieces of work.
Under the hood is a stock LT4, which should provide plenty of oomph. More than the original car for sure, although the two engines aren't truly comparable. Legit 57SC Atlantics were powered by a 3.25-liter inline-eight engine which produced 200 horsepower with help from a roots-type supercharger. Thanks to an aluminum body, 57SCs weighed in the neighborhood of 2,000 pounds. This body, originally a magnesium alloy, could not be welded together easily in the original "Aerolithe" concept, which produced a center seam where rivets were used to keep it in one piece. This was retained for the aluminum Atlantics.
The Type 57 has a rich history, and the full-bodied Atlantic coupes are some of the most valuable cars in the world. Few are known to survive today, and there's a huge amount of mystique surrounding one of the missing cars, chassis number 57453, also known as La Voiture Noire. It was put on a train to Bordeaux as the Nazis invaded France in February 1941. After that, the trail goes completely cold.
For just a tiny taste of what it would be like to own one of the original Atlantics, you can own this C4-based replica. At the very least, it will turn heads.
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