We are in the middle of the Roaring Twenties.
The recovery of European economies, from 1924, was accompanied by social progress which favored the democratization of the automobile.
Popular cars, previously rare on the market, are multiplying.
Their appearance was encouraged by the emancipation of women, which constituted one of the upheavals in society during the Roaring Twenties.
Published in 1922, La Garçonne by novelist Victor Margueritte left its mark.
Manufacturers no longer hesitate to target women, to offer them cars that are more manageable, more compact and more stylish.
Mistinguett, Gaby Morlay, Greta Garbo are happy to show themselves behind the wheel.
In November 1924, the cover of Vogue magazine, signed Georges Lepape, showed an androgynous creature in front of a Voisin torpedo.
The woman becomes a consumer... without obtaining civic equality.
Bugatti
During the 1920s, the automobile often appeared at the forefront of societal transformations.
Personalities (we are not yet talking about “people”) refine their image by carefully choosing their frames.
Rouler en Voisin demonstrates a certain originality.
Paul Morand buys an ultra-modern “sports sedan”.
“In 1924, as soon as Grasset signed me big checks, (I bought) my first Voisin,” noted the writer in his Journal Useless.
Maurice Chevalier, Rudolph Valentino, Anatole France also pose aboard their Voisin.
The automobile is one of the symbols of modernity of this era on which Le Corbusier's Esprit Nouveau breathes.
Mallet-Stevens and Fernand Léger did not neglect it when creating the sets for L'In humaine, the film that Marcel L'Herbier unveiled in December 1924. The director called on committed artists such as the Martel brothers or Louis Barillet, like Paul Poiret for the costumes or Darius Milhaud for the music.
Against a backdrop of avant-garde architecture, a high-priced Rolland-Pilain emerges...
The Bugatti team at the 1924 Lyon Grand Prix. Bugatti
Art and automobiles also intersect on walls and in magazines.
A whole generation of poster artists is emerging from the shadows: in different styles, more or less realistic, Charles Loupot, Leonetto Cappiello and René Vincent collaborate with Peugeot, Voisin or Bugatti;
Robert Falcucci produces the posters for Renault.
Georges Hamel (who signs “Géo Ham”) becomes a witness to the transformation of the world under the empire of speed.
He paints sporting events by mixing gravity and humanity in an always stunning movement.
The gouaches he created for the covers of L'Illustration convey speed with vigor, but with great subtlety in the coloring.
Bugatti
But nowhere else do art and technology merge more intimately than in the style of Ettore Bugatti.
The “35” type represents the archetype of its singular aesthetic.
Whether in the harmony of the whole or in the execution of each detail, the machine is treated like a piece of goldwork.
The radiator evokes the shape of a horseshoe, recalling Bugatti's passion for horse riding.
The rear point is tapered like the stern of a canoe.
The chassis follows the curves of the bodywork.
The straight eight-cylinder engine with non-detachable cylinder head is a museum piece.
All the materials come together: the polished aluminum on the eight-spoke wheels, the forged steel of the front axle, the corked aluminum which gives indescribable reflections to the engine, the brass wire which zigzaggingly connects each screw fixing the chassis, the leather joints, the bronze rings... The aesthetics of the “35” are induced by technicality.
A story with gum
The Bugatti 35 has more than 2,500 victories to its credit.
Bugatti
The Bugatti 35 appeared on August 3, 1924 during the ACF Grand Prix which also served as the European Grand Prix.
It is organized in the Lyon region on a 23-kilometer circuit whose route starts from Sept Chemins, passes through Givors, and returns via Grande Pavière and the descent of Esses.
The five Bugattis arrive by road.
Lined up before the start, the five blue cars are impressive, but with only 90 horsepower, the Bugattis suffer from a big power handicap compared to the new Alfa Romeo P2, Fiat 805 and other Sunbeams which all have supercharged engines.
From the outset, the Bugattis reveal a weak point that we didn't suspect: the tires.
Manufactured by Dunlop, they turned out to be totally unsuitable for the circuit, their casings tearing after a few dozen kilometers!
Struggling with these problems throughout the race, the Bugattis finished far behind, in seventh and ninth places.
Versatile, produced in large numbers, the Bugatti 35 will participate for many years in countless competitions in the hands of professional pilots or gentlemen drivers.
The painter André Derain like the writer Paul Morand will be unconditional fans.
The latter will write: “Besides, the other cars are shotguns.”
The car is also a tool for exploration in these times which exalt the colonial spirit.
To conquer the world, the automobile must be able to go everywhere.
Renault builds “desert trucks”, 10 HP models equipped with six twin wheels.
With three vehicles of this type, the director of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique accompanied by six men undertook in 1924 the junction between Colomb-Béchar, terminus of the Algerian railway, and Bourema, from where the Niger railways leave.
The expedition thus completed the first crossing of the desert in just seven days.
Bugatti
Citroën has chosen another type of vehicle to take on Africa.
The “Central Africa” expedition, better known as the “Black Cruise”, leaves on October 28 to connect Colomb-Béchar to Madagascar.
These expeditions combine the laudable desire to meet other peoples and the specious desire to conquer or convert them.
From these extraordinary journeys, Alexandre Iacovleff brought back sumptuous sanguines, while the sculptor Henri Bouchard created the official bronze medals from these same adventures.
The illustrator was sent by André Citroën to “fix through drawing the indigenous morals and customs in danger of disappearing”.
Respectively in Chamonix in January then in Paris in May, the Winter and Summer Olympic Games, which take place in France, are also an opportunity to bring people together.
Art and science brought together again.
On May 15, 1924, Juan Gris gave a conference at the Sorbonne on the theme of “the possibilities of painting”.
He bluntly proclaims “art is a science.”
As for André Breton, he appealed to dreams, the unconscious and the marvelous in his Manifesto of Surrealism published in October 1924.
More down to earth, politics prefers realism.
Russia also opens a new chapter in its history with the death of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin in January, at the age of 54.
After him, the strong man of Russia is Joseph Stalin who manages to oust Leon Trotsky.
In France, the Left Cartel, made up of radicals and socialists, drives out the right and wins the legislative elections.
The following month, Gaston Doumergue was elected President of the Republic.
In June 1924, to celebrate his election, he paraded in a Renault 40 CV torpedo.
Bugatti