The model was named in honor of Jean Bugatti's friend, French pilot Jean Mermoz, one of the pioneers in aviation and the first to cross the South Atlantic by air. Unfortunately, in December 1936, he and his crew crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after a supposed engine failure. Originally, the Atlantic model was named "Coupé Aero" after its predecessor, the Type 57 Aérolithe. The first two production units already bore that name, but after hearing the tragic news, Jean Bugatti commissioned to change the name of the model to "Atlantic Coupé".