Events
BUGATTI: REACHING FOR PERFECTION
BUGATTI: REACHING FOR PERFECTION
(And Finding Easton, Maryland)
One could easily argue that the Roaring ‘20s were given their roar not by the dancing or the flapping or, later in the decade, the advent of sound in motion pictures. Rather, the ‘20s roared with the public’s heightened appreciation for motorsport and its aggressive evolution. Applying those advances made to both metallurgy and combustion during the (not so) Great War, motor racing became the propellant for a host of advances in automotive design and construction.
No carmaker of that era better exemplified that progress than Ettore Bugatti, designing his car in his studio and producing them at his workshops in Molsheim, France. Through April 13th, four examples of his work (and artistry) are on display at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland. Who’d a thunk?
Certainly not this enthusiast, who’s (almost) given up on DC’s Smithsonian throwing more than a bone at our own automotive history. The Academy Art Museum, which occupies a former charter school within an easy walk of Easton’s downtown, has devoted two of its display spaces to four Bugatti automobiles, and embellished the exhibit with furniture from Ettore Bugatti’s father Carlo and sculpture from Ettore’s brother, Rembrandt. As the press info relates, Academy provides an opportunity to immerse yourself in the family story, with cars, furniture and sculptures serving as the main course, while photos, posters and background narratives further fuel the appetite.
As if the Type 39, Type 45 and two Type 57s don’t deliver the visual and emotional calories. The Type 39, based on the iconic Type 35 and shown in highly buffed aluminum (this is before tariffs were applied to that specific alloy…), is as amazing as you’d assume. And the Type 45 is powered by an inline 16(!), created by putting two straight eights side-by-side and somehow connecting them to one transmission and driveshaft. The idea wasn’t successful on the track, but is absolutely jaw dropping at Academy.
In the adjacent gallery are two Type 57s, both 2-place coupes. The more traditional is the Type 57 Atalante, while the more overt statement is made by the Type 57S Atlantic. A poster of either one would easily replace that Countach hanging on your bedroom wall.
Easton, Maryland is roughly a ½ hour east of Annapolis, and less than 90 minutes from downtown DC. While the exhibit ends on Sunday, April 13th, I’d think there’s a good chance the same cars are featured at the area’s St. Michael’s Concours at the end of September. But the Concours will cost you $55 (in advance), while the museum is free. Yup. Free.
More info on the exhibit – and Academy Art Museum – is available at the museum’s website:
https://academyartmuseum.org/bugatti-reaching-for-perfection/
