The Bugatti Aerolithe Concept is a futuristic sportscar created by design student Douglas Hogg for his final project at Coventry University.
Created for the year 2025, it is inspired by the original Bugatti Electron Aerolithe, a legendary prototype presented at the 1935 Paris Motor Show and featuring a body made of Electron, an aeronautical grade magnesium alloy.
The Aerolithe prototype gave birth to the Atlantic models, built in just three units. The prototype itself was lost before WWII and is currently being recreated by a team of Canadian car restorers.
The design of the Aerolithe Concept reinterprets in a modern way some of the styling cues of the original Aerolithe, such as the pronounced shoulders, the split windshield and rear window, the aeronautical-inspired doors and the trademark grille.
As Douglas explains, the concept is "a minimalist exercise in pure surfacing [...] inspired by Ettore Bugatti’s principles of automotive design and the legacy of the original Aerolithe."
In this case the doors – which integrate part of the dashboard – adopt an original opening system, dubbed "split opening canopy", which "adds drama to getting in and out gives easy access to the interior."
"The top parts take the dashboard up with them, whilst the steering column lifts into the space left by the door taking away a large part of bodywork."