1928 Bugatti

Canadian Automotive Museum Audio Content

Our bilingual audio tour explores less well-known stories from the collection, in the voices of the Museum’s volunteers, historians, vehicle experts and more.
Transcript:

Nowadays we might think of Bugattis as supercars for the ultra-rich, fast-moving concepts designed more to show off than for any sporting purpose. In the 1920s, though, Bugattis were kings of the track and public imagination. Streamlined, elegantly designed and excellent at taking tight corners, they were famous racers, and the source of one of the great motoring myths.

Early car races were held on public roads, at least until the Paris to Madrid race of 1903, whose dangerous course led to the deaths of five drivers, three spectators, and injuries to hundreds more. A growing push for safety saw the creation of more closed courses, with specially-designed tracks. The tight corners and smooth surfaces of tracks lent themselves well to small, light racers like this Bugatti Type 37. In fact, this vehicle is a track champion; it was a champion on the famous British Brooklands “Mountain” track in 1936.

If you’re more into dance, you might also know the Bugatti for its tragic association with the death of artist, dance innovator and socialite Isadora Duncan in Nice, France, in 1927. The story goes that Duncan was test-driving a Bugatti with some friends when her long scarf, a signature part of her theatrical style of dress, became entangled in the spokes of the rear wheel. She spoke her final words- “Farewell, my friends, I go to glory,” was pulled from the car, and died instantly of a broken neck. The story entered motoring legend, but the truth was slightly less dramatic.

For one, Duncan wasn’t driving, and the car wasn’t a Bugatti, it was an Amilcar, a French racing model. The source of the confusion comes from the driver, mechanic Benoît Falchetto, who Duncan had affectionately nicknamed “Bugatti”, for his racing successes with that brand. Somehow Falchetto’s nickname became confused with the model of car that Duncan was riding in, and a tragic legend was born.