Pur Sang Reproduction of Bugatti 35 |
Ettore Bugatti built his first Type 35 in 1924, and by 1931, the company rolled out more than 300 of these racing cars in different specifications. Today, finding an original example is a huge undertaking, but those looking for the driving experience instead of just an investment can always call Argentina's Pur Sang. - Road & TrackOh? Somebody is building reproductions of an iconic pre-war race car in Argentina?!? I root around and I find a great story on Petrolicious:
If you think of what Argentina was like back when Bugattis, Alfas, etc, were new back in the ‘20 to ‘30s, the country rivaled almost any country in Europe. It was called the Paris of the South and it is where all the wealthy people in Europe went to get away from war time chaos. You had examples of people going to great lengths to export and re-establish their lifestyle in South America. They were building Europe all over again in Buenos Aires, the architecture attested to that. Even entire palaces were shipped over and rebuilt.
Everything that made Europe special made it to Argentina. Everybody knows about Argentina being a leader in wine making, horse racing, polo and of course motorsport which, during the ‘20’s and ‘30’s no matter where you were in the world, was the ultimate lifestyle statement. To own something like a Bugatti and to be racing it around the world was as good as it got.
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It’s more that you have this incredible Parisian culture in very wealthy Argentina, and then you have Juan Perón who came in with this sort of idea of calling in to suspect all the nice things that all the rich people had, bringing in a certain level of stagnation in progress for decades. Over time he really brought the country to a stand-still. So in the same way that you see Cuba, you have this preserved time capsule. The same thing happened, all be it to a lesser degree of severity, in Argentina. It wasn’t like things progressed.
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