Bugatti Type 35 Grand Prix, Italy #11

Italy raced in red, rosso corsa with white numbers, and the Type 35 wore it naturally: Ettore Bugatti was born in Milan in 1881, and his finest racing car did some of its greatest work in Sicily. After its debut at the Grand Prix de Lyon in August 1924, the Type 35 won the Targa Florio five years in a row, from 1925 to 1929. Meo Costantini took the first two, Emilio Materassi the third and Albert Divo the last two, a run of five straight wins that only Porsche, from 1966 to 1970, would match. The car was made for that kind of race: a 2-litre overhead-cam straight-eight, a hollow front axle to keep unsprung weight down, and cast alloy wheels with the brake drums built in.

CMC's Italian car is a deep, glossy red with twin white stripes over the bonnet, an 11 in the radiator mesh and Turin plates reading TO 1 2545. The louvred bonnet lifts to show the straight-eight with its brass carburettors and copper lines, the spare is strapped to the flank in leather, and the eight-spoke wheels carry their integral drums. Inside are an engine-turned dashboard with clock and gauges, a cord-bound wheel and a brown leather seat. CMC builds it at 1:18 from more than 930 parts, in a limited edition of 800.