Ian Claridge’s blog turned me on to this post at Zonkey Boot (a shoe design blog (!), which only confirms my belief that the lines of classic racing cars transcend design boundaries) concerning an amazing set of photographs shot by Bernhard Angerer for an exhibit at the Vienna Technical Museum in 2007. This photo of a Bugatti 51 in bare metal is what really drew me in. At first, I thought it was simply the uncommon image of a Bugatti stripped bare that captivated me so. I’m used to seeing the Bugatti Grand Prix cars and Voiturettes in their classic French racing blue liveries, but the bare metal made me focus on the 51’s lines in a new way.
The photo itself, though, especially when viewed among the others in the set, is a marvelous achievement. Angerer manages the difficult task of getting just the right amount of light reflected without making the cars look glossier than they really are.
Click on over to Zonkey Boot for more photos and a conversation with the photographer.