Images by Douglas Hogg
The Bugatti Aerolithe Concept is a futuristic design study of an exclusive Bugatti for the year 2025, by Coventry University graduate Douglas Hogg.
It is a vision of a one-off build by Bugatti in 1935, called the Aerolithe Prototype, from which the company produced just three production cars off as many orders.
The 1935 Bugatti Aerolithe Prototype could be considered the rarest car in the world. The body was made entirely of Electron (an aeronautical grade magnesium alloy) and according to records it was lost before WW2 and no longer exists.
It was built off the beautiful Type 57SC Atlantic, which is largely regarded as the world’s first bona fide supercar. With its ultra-low stance, lightweight construction and 200 bhp engine, the Atlantic could reach a top speed of 200km/h (123 mph).
Of the Aerolithe concept, Hogg explains that it’s “a minimalist exercise in pure surfacing […] inspired be Ettore Bugatti’s principles of automotive design and the legacy of the original Aerolithe.”
Take the doors, which make up part of the dashboard and use the original opening system that Hogg has referred to as the “split opening canopy.”
The dashboard also forms part of the doors, “… whilst the steering column lifts into the space left by the door taking away part of the bodywork.”
As I write this story, there are apparently a dedicated group of Canadian specialists who are recreating the original Prototype in readiness for this year’s Pebble Beach Concourse d’Elegance.
Good luck chaps.
