Bugatti Type 35 Grand Prix, Spain #18

Spain raced in the colours of its flag: a red body with a yellow bonnet, red chassis and springs, the numbers black on the yellow and white on the red. On the Type 35 the scheme draws the eye straight to the bonnet, which is where Bugatti's achievement lay. When the car appeared at the Grand Prix de Lyon on 3 August 1924 it carried a 1,991 cc overhead-cam straight-eight with three valves per cylinder, and it rode on something no racing car had used before: cast alloy wheels, eight-spoked, with the brake drums cast in. Lyon itself was a disappointment, with tyre failures costing the five works cars any chance of the win, although one of them set the fastest lap. What followed was a run that took the Type 35 to more than a thousand race wins.

CMC follows the Spanish rule to the letter: a black 18 on the yellow bonnet and in the radiator mesh, a white 18 on the red tail, and a red front axle and chassis below. The 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 cockpit has an engine-turned dashboard, a cord-bound wheel and a black leather seat. CMC builds it at 1:18 from more than 930 parts, in a limited edition of 2,000.