The Bugatti T57C “tank” had won the 1939 24 Hours of Le Mans driven by Jean-Pierre Wimille/Pierre Veyron and had been back in Molsheim for several weeks. It was about to compete in the La Baule Grand Prix but its designer, 30-year-old Jean Bugatti, was a perfectionist and wanted to make sure the long-nosed racer was up to it. So, at about 10 p.m. on August 11, he blocked off his habitual test section of the Molsheim-Strasbourg road with factory…
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