The Bugatti Type 57[1] and later variants (including the famous Atlantic and Atalante) was a grand tourer built from 1934 through 1940.

The original road-going Type 57 included a smaller version of the Royale's square-bottom horseshoe grille.

Swerving to avoid a drunken bicyclist on the closed road, Bugatti crashed the car and died at age 30.

The "S" stood for "Surbaissé" ("Lowered") and the "C" for "Compresseur" (a supercharger introduced by Bugatti as a result of customers' desire for increased power).

[6] Dimensions: The Type 57S Atlantic body featured flowing coupé lines with a pronounced dorsal seam running from the front to the back end of the vehicle.

Like the Type 59 Grand Prix car, the Aérolithe used Elektron composite for its body panels, known for being a very lightweight and durable material, but also for being extremely flammable when exposed to high temperatures.

Therefore, being unable to weld the body panels, the engineers riveted them externally, a technique frequently used in the aviation industry, thus creating the signature seam.

However, the production Atlantics, just four built, used plain aluminium, but the dorsal seams were retained for style and have led to the car's present fame.

57473 (3rd Atlantic) being the same car, for they were closely related in terms of production date and both being painted black by the Bugatti factory.

It was finished around the end of July 1935 and only four months later, it made its first public appearance at the Paris Motor Show.

The car was a faithful recreation of Jean Bugatti's stunning Art Deco inspired "SuperProfile coupé" design, but due to its seemingly bizarre shape, the vehicle has brought attention to a very limited audience, thus there were only four Atlantics built the years after.

A few people, however, had the chance to sit in the vehicle next to Bugatti race driver William Grover-Williams while he offered them a "quick" tour of Paris and were surprised by the vehicle's performance and looks, so they called it "La Aérolithe" after the phrase "Rapide comme une aérolithe" ("Fast as a meteorite"), a name that was later adopted by Bugatti.

57374 was supposedly built using various components from the Aérolithe prototype, the most notable being the chromed elements on either side of the engine grille.

In 1939, at the request of Victor Rothschild, the car was brought back to Molsheim in order to have the "C" specification supercharger fitted.

In 1945, a wealthy American doctor who had just arrived in England bought the car, and a year later he brought it to the US and sold it to Bugatti enthusiast Mike Oliver.

[16] On 10 March 1936, Greek racing driver Nico E. Embiricos ordered a Bugatti Type 57S Coupé Aero bearing chassis No.

By some unclear reason, once received, the car was sent to Corsica Coachworks for the conversion to a two-seater convertible racing body, this process coming to an end on 4 September 1936.

During the winter of the same year, the car was mostly driven by Jean Bugatti, racing driver William Grover-Williams and his wife, Yvonne.

The last mention about it was on a list of cars that were to be sent via a train to Rue Alfred Daney in Bordeaux on 18 February 1941, during the French exodus, being registered "1244 W5" and bearing chassis No.

[10][18] Jean Bugatti, who died on 11 August 1939 at the age of 30 in a car crash, often considered the Atlantic model and most notably No.

A few months later, while driving along the French Riviera, he and his wife, Yvonne, entered the "Juan-Les-Pins Concours d'Elegance" event where the vehicle received the "Grand Prix d'Honneur" award.

[10] Eventually, Holtzschuch and his wife were captured and killed by Nazis by the end of World War II and the car was purchased alongside their Monaco mansion by Cannes businessman and mechanic Robert Verkerke in 1949.

On 22 August 1955, Chatard and Janine Vacheron, a female companion, were driving the car near Gien, France, when they were hit by a train.

57473 was bought by an anonymous collector, who decided that the vehicle should be thoroughly restored by American specialist Paul Russell and brought back to Chatard's specification.

In 2010, the finished car was exhibited at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance event, where it didn't win any prize, being considered a replica.

[12] Source:[10] This final production Atlantic was built for British tennis player Richard B. Pope, delivered to him on 2 May 1938 before being registered "EXK6", as it's commonly referred to.

Eventually, fashion designer Ralph Lauren bought the car in 1988, and then commissioned a complete restoration with Paul Russell and Co.

[21] In 2008, the Bugatti Type 57S with chassis number 57502 (built in 1937 with the Atalante coachwork for Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe) was discovered in a private garage in Newcastle upon Tyne, having been stored untouched for 48 years and known only by a few people.

Chassis number 57335, the Le Mans winner, is the only one known to exist and is currently on display at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, US.