This Pur Sang is an Argentinian built, highly accurate replica of a 1927 Bugatti T35B, the final, supercharged straight-eight development of the original, iconic, and hugely successful grand prix model. This one’s complete minus the engine, which incidentally would have encompassed the only two changes from original, Molsheim-built cars to be found anywhere on a Pur Sang T35–namely a switch from roller to plain crank bearings, and a distributor in place of the original magneto–both chosen only for greatly improved reliability. Find it here on eBay in Key West, Florida for $132k OBO.
Built not only identically to an original (excluding the aforementioned engine changes), Pur Sang even use all the same labor-intensive techniques employed by Bugatti’s factory craftsmen. Furthermore, all fittings are exactly those as used by Molsheim, including oddities like Ettore’s square head, odd number-sized metric bolts and nuts with integrated washers.
Wheels are cast alloy items with integral brake drums, body panels are hand-beaten over wooden bucks, extensive engine-turning is by hand, and the artfully formed front axle is hollow, tapered, and with holes through with the leaf springs pass. According to legendary Bugatti authority H.G. Conway, construction started with a 120kg block of steel, whittled down to only 10kg for the finished assembly–presumably, that’s exactly how they’re still made by Pur Sang.
Many of these cars are bought by collectors who already own the real thing, but want to enjoy driving without fear of wrecking a priceless original. There’s no word on how this one ended up without an engine, but here’s the empty bay. That pulley on the left (car’s right) drives a mechanical tachometer, and should connected to another, camshaft-driven pulley via a leather belt.
Pur Sang still builds cars, and spares are readily available. It’s unclear exactly how much they’d charge for a complete engine, but you can be sure it won’t be cheap. We’re anticipating plenty of LS swap jokes in the comments, but in all seriousness, this one deserves a proper Bugatti engine–even if it is built in Argentina rather than Alsace.
