In 1937 he began construction on a radical machine that had a swept-forward wing design, a twin-V tailplane, and twin contra-rotating propellers powered by two Bugatti straight-eight engines. Unfortunately, the Second World War broke out just before the aircraft was completed and Bugatti had to flee Paris, taking his creation with him. Today a group of dedicated enthusiasts are recreating Bugatti's dream and building a replica that, unlike the original, will soon take to the skies.

Dubbed the 100P, Bugatti had intended to build and fly it against the best aircraft of the time, such as the 469 mph (755 km/h) Messerschmitt Me 209, to win at the Deutsche de La Muerthe Cup. Bringing in famed aeronautical engineer, Louis D. de Monge to assist in the design, the original aircraft used just one straight-eight, 450 hp (335 Kw) Bugatti Type 50 engine. However, the pair soon abandoned this design for a tilt at an even greater prize; the world air speed record.

As such, the 100P was then fitted with two Type 50 engines behind the cockpit driving a propeller each in a complex arrangement where the front engine was slanted to the right and joined to a drive shaft at the firewall behind the pilot, which then passed by the pilot's right elbow. The second engine was slanted to the left, in a similar arrangement to the first. Just past the pilot's feet, the two drive shafts merged at a gearbox and then connected to the two contra-rotating propellers.