[4] The new design, named Fulgur, and redesignated Breguet 470 T12 before the prototype was completed, was a low-winged monoplane of all-metal construction, accommodating 12 passengers.

[2][4] The Fulgur made its first flight on 5 March 1936, and soon displayed a maximum speed of 385 km/h (239 mph), leading it to be described as the fastest commercial transport in the world.

[2] The prototype Breguet 470 was entered in the 1936 Paris–Saigon–Paris race, with the hope of winning a large cash prize (1,800,000 Francs), and a promise that the winner would be purchased by the French Air Ministry.

It was re-engined with more powerful, 937 hp (699 kW) Gnome-Rhône 14N radials in 1937 before being entered in that year's Istres–Damascus–Paris race, finishing fifth in a time of 21:03 hours, with demilitarised Savoia-Marchetti SM.79s bombers occupying the first three places and a de Havilland Comet racer finishing fourth.

[7] The aircraft was used mainly for LAPE[8] flights between Barcelona and Toulouse, although the Spanish Republican Air Force occasionally used it as a military transport as well.