National Pride on Wheels

CMC Bugatti T35 Nation Color Project

1:18 | $351 ea.

As Grand Prix and endurance racing blossomed in the early years of the 20th century, the convention of having each team carry the colors of its host country became enshrined as tradition. For some teams, that tradition persists to this day. Ferrari is synonymous with the fiery red of Italy. And British Racing Green has become so entrenched that it has become the actual name the color.

Bugatti was originally France’s most prestigious racing marque; in the 1920s, the Type 35 was the racing car to own, no matter what country you hailed from, being nearly unbeatable on the international stage in the late ’20s, winning the prestigious Targa Florio five consecutive years, from 1925 to 1929, and the very first race at Le Mans in 1929. The international appeal of the Type 35 gave CMC an idea: Why not produce a series of T35s painted in the period-correct national colors for each nation? That’s exactly what it has done. We reviewed the British Racing Green car that won Le Mans in 1929 several years ago, and now it has been joined by more than a dozen other T35s representing nations from around the globe with rich racing traditions. Of course, there’s France’s blue, but there’s also German white (that was changed to silver in the 1930s, but at the time of the T35, white is correct). There’s yellow and blue for Sweden, blue and white for Argentina, red and yellow for Spain, and more than a dozen others. It’s a phenomenal model and an ambitious project for CMC. Check out its website to see all the nation/color combos available.