Why is Book 3 built around a $100 Million missing car? 🚘💥
When I was plotting out Cedric Newman’s next move after An American Treasure, I knew I needed a catalyst that carried both immense historical weight and modern, high-stakes danger.
​Enter Jean Bugatti’s personal masterpiece: "La Voiture Noire" (The Black Car).
​In June 1940, as war closed in, this legendary Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic was packed onto a train wagon bound for Bordeaux to keep it out of enemy hands.
​The train reached its destination, the car didn't!
​Over 80 years later, it remains the ultimate automotive cold case, a lost ghost currently estimated to be worth over $100 million.
​In my latest blog post on Swimming Upstream, I dive into the real-world wartime mystery behind this iconic machine, and how an unsolved disappearance from 1940 ignites a lethal European chase for Cedric and Daniela in An Atlantic Shadow.
​Catch the full post on the blog: https://www.swimmingupstream.co.uk/2026/07/why-is-book-3-about-long-los…