Special Hobby 48219 Bugatti 100 Racer

The Bugatti Model 100 (another designation: Bugatti 100P) was a French low-wing prototype sports plane from the interwar period. The drive was provided by two motors Bugatti Type 50P with 450 HP each. The machine has not been tested, nor has it ever entered into a wider series production.

Work on the Bugatti Model 100 began in 1938 with the goal of creating an aircraft that would win the Deutsch de la Meurthe Cup Race in 1939. The unfinished copy of the plane featured an incredibly avant-garde design. First of all, it was powered by a de facto double engine, propelling two counter-rotating propellers located in the bow of the fuselage, which was a phenomenon at that time. It was also fantastically refined aerodynamically and used an unusual variant of the V-shaped tail (the so-called Rudlicki tail or butterfly tail). What's more - the plane was made largely of wood, which lowered the cost of its production. Considering the many technological innovations used in the aircraft, it is not surprising that the French Air Force quickly became interested in its construction. However, the machine was not ready, neither in 1939 nor in 1940, and the unfinished specimen spent World War II disassembled in garages and warehouses.