The 1937 and 1939 24 Hours of Le Mans Winning Bugatti 57C.

David, I really like your work with the Starter kit.  Well done!  And I also applaud your mixture of the pictures of the original along with the model.  A fine post!  Thanks. David H

This is the Spark version, released around 5 or 6 years ago. Spark included body-color stone guards ahead of the headlights and painted the car in a flat blue. Not sure where they determined the paint color, but headlamp guards seemed to be in place for at least part of the race.

Bugatti 57C

Harv mentions above that the Spark model version of the 1939 Bugatti 57C is in flat blue. My search so far has not turned up a colour image of this historic car. Unfortunately, the car no longer exists. Models of the vehicle were made in both gloss and flat paint.

On 11 August 1939, while testing the Type 57 tank-bodied racer which had just won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race that year, not far from the factory on the road near the village of Duppigheim, 30-year-old Jean Bugatti was killed when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a tree, after avoiding a cyclist. Jean was the son of Etienne Bugatti.

Bugatti introduced the legendary Type 57 in 1934. In true Bugatti fashion, the chassis of this high-performance road car was proven on the race track.The Type 57G took to the track in 1937, with an enclosed body that was quickly dubbed the "Tank." The Type 57G did Bugatti proud, winning the French Grand Prix in 1936 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1937 and 1939.

The Type 57G took to the track in 1937, with an enclosed body that was quickly dubbed the "Tank." The Type 57G did Bugatti proud, winning the French Grand Prix in 1936 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1937 and 1939.

Here is the 1937 Le Mans Winning Bugatti 57C as modelled by Spark. I note that the dark blue of this model is flat.

Just three Type 57G Tanks were produced, but what the car lacked in production numbers it more than made up for in results.

As a correction, I said flat blue, not flat black. And I have the '37 Bugatti by Spark too. In between these two victories there was the Delahaye 135CS driven by Shaboud and Tremoulet, also modeled by Spark. Here's that one, plus another view of the '37 Bug.

Nice model and I like your race details.

The Bugatti 1937 and 1939 Le Mans winners were very different cars:

https://www.stevebarnettmodelcars.com/photo_12782172.html#photos_id=12782191

This is based on the Starter kit. Note Steve used gloss paint for both blues.

https://www.stevebarnettmodelcars.com/photo_12782172.html#photos_id=12782172

Also based on a Starter kit and Steve uses a gloss for this one too.

Incidentally, doesn't the Spark use the mouldings from Starter?

Here is an official piece on the 1939 victory from Bugatti:

https://www.bugatti.com/media/news/2019/80-years-ago/

Unfortunately, no mention if the blue was flat or gloss but in the leading photo from the article it does look like there was a shine to the paint finish.

@chris-sweetman

Thank you Chris. That Steve Barnett website is wonderful and what a great model builder he is. Love those extra details.

I am inclined to think that at least the 1939 Bugatti 57C had gloss paint, but not as glowing as our current paint. The reflections on the black and white images tend to support that in both a few that I have and that official piece that you show here.

I did read in a few sources in the early days of Spark that they used Provence Moulage and Starter resin kits as the basis for their models. If did so, I doubt with their current success and variety, that the still do so.

I still have several dozen unbuilt resin kits but I have build dozens also, but no where near the Steve Barnett quality. I hope to show a few more post-war Le Mans winners that I have built, over the next few weeks. I don't build much recently, finding it easier to purchase Spark and a few other ready built models of good quality.

I started early with white metal and still have a large number of these, both built and still in boxes, but the resin seemed much easier to work with and generally produced a more finished product.