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Automobiles Ettore Bugatti

Company type	Private
Industry	Automotive
Founded	1909; 116 years ago (1909)
Founder	Ettore Bugatti
Defunct	1963; 62 years ago (1963)
Fate	Sold toHispano-Suiza (1963)[1]
Headquarters	Molsheim, Alsace , France
Key people	Ettore Bugatti Jean Bugatti
Products	Automobiles

Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then Frenchmanufacturer ofhigh-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German city ofMolsheim,Alsace, by the Italian-born industrial designerEttore Bugatti. The cars were known for their design beauty and numerous race victories. Famous Bugatti automobiles include theType 35 Grand Prix cars, theType 41 "Royale", theType 57 "Atlantic" and theType 55 sports car.

The death of Ettore Bugatti in 1947 proved to be a severe blow to themarque, and the death of his sonJean in 1939 meant that there was no successor to lead the factory with no more than about 8,000 cars made. The company struggled financially, and it released one last model in the 1950s before eventually being purchased for its airplane parts business in 1963.

In 1987, an Italian entrepreneur bought the brand name and revived it asBugatti Automobili S.p.A.^[2]

A movie about the founding of the French car manufacturer Bugatti is being produced by Andrea Iervolino with the film slated for release in 2025.^[3]

The founder Ettore Bugatti was born inMilan, Italy, and the automobile company that bears his name was founded in 1909 in Molsheim located in the Alsace region which was part of theGerman Empire from 1871 to 1919. The company was known both for the level of detail of its engineering in its automobiles, and for the artistic manner in which the designs were executed, given the artistic nature of Ettore's family (his father,Carlo Bugatti (1856–1940), was an importantArt Nouveau furniture and jewelry designer).

During thewar Ettore Bugatti was sent away, initially to Milan and later to Paris, but as soon as hostilities had been concluded he returned to his factory at Molsheim.^[4] Less than four months after theVersailles Treaty formalised the transfer of Alsace from Germany to France, Bugatti was able to obtain, at the last minute, a stand at the15th Paris motor show in October 1919.^[4] He exhibited three light cars, all of them closely based on their pre-war equivalents, and each fitted with the sameoverhead camshaft 4-cylinder 1,368cc engine with four valves per cylinder.^[4] Smallest of the three was a "Type 13" with a racing body (constructed by the Bugatti themselves) and using a chassis with a 2,000 mm (78.7 in) wheelbase.^[4] The others were a "Type 22" and a "Type 23" with wheelbases of 2,250 and 2,400 mm (88.6 and 94.5 in) respectively.^[4]

The company also enjoyed great success in earlyGrand Prix motor racing: in 1929, a privately enteredBugatti won the first everMonaco Grand Prix. Bugatti's racing success culminated with driverJean-Pierre Wimille winning the24 hours of Le Mans twice (in 1937 withRobert Benoist and in 1939 withPierre Veyron).

Bugatti cars were extremely successful in racing. The littleBugatti Type 10 swept the top four positions at its first race. The 1924Bugatti Type 35 is one of the most successful racing cars - developed by Bugatti with master engineer and racing driverJean Chassagne who also drove it in the car's first ever Grand Prix in 1924 Lyon.^[5] Bugattis swept to victory in theTarga Florio for five years straight from 1925 through 1929.Louis Chiron held the most podiums in Bugatti cars, and the modern marque revival Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. named the 1999Bugatti 18/3 Chiron concept car in his honour. But it was the final racing success at Le Mans that is most remembered—Jean-Pierre Wimille and Pierre Veyron won the 1939 race with just one car and meagre resources.

In the 1930s, Ettore Bugatti got involved in the creation of a racerairplane, hoping to beat the Germans in theDeutsch de la Meurthe prize. This would be theBugatti 100P,^[6][7] which never flew. It was designed by Belgian engineerLouis de Monge who had already applied Bugatti Brescia engines in his "Type 7.5" lifting body.

Ettore Bugatti also designed a successful motorised railcar, theAutorail Bugatti.^[8]

The death of Ettore Bugatti's son,Jean Bugatti, on 11 August 1939 marked a turning point in the company's fortunes as he died while testing aType 57 tank-bodied race car near the Molsheim factory.^[9]

World War II left the Molsheim factory in ruins and the company lost control of the property. During the war, Bugatti planned a new factory at Levallois, a northwestern suburb of Paris. After the war, Bugatti designed and planned to build a series of new cars, including the Type 73 road car and Type 73C single seat racing car, but in all Bugatti built only five Type 73 cars.

Development of a 375 cc supercharged car was stopped when Ettore Bugatti died on 21 August 1947. Following his death, the business declined further and made its last appearance as a business in its own right at aParis Motor Show in October 1952.^[10]

After a long decline, the original incarnation of Bugatti ceased operations in 1952.

Bugatti models are known to focus on design.^[11]Engine blocks werehand scraped to ensure that the surfaces were flat so that gaskets were not required for sealing, and many of the exposed surfaces of the engine compartment featuredguilloché finishes on them. Safety wires were threaded through most fasteners in intricately laced patterns. Rather than bolt the springs to theaxles as most manufacturers did, Bugatti's axles were forged such that the spring passed through an opening in the axle, a much more elegant solution requiring fewer parts. Bugatti himself described his competitorBentley's cars as "the world's fastest lorries" for focusing on durability. According to Bugatti, "weight was the enemy".^[12]

• 
  1913 Bugatti 22, 3 seat Vinet
• 
  Bugatti Type 50 i
• 
  1938Type 57SC Atlantic from theRalph Lauren collection
• 
  1933Type 59Grand Prix racer from theRalph Lauren collection
• 
  Bugatti Type 43 Cockpit

Relatives of Harold Carr found a rare 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante when cataloguing the doctor's belongings after his death in 2009. Carr's Type 57S is notable because it was originally owned by British race car driver Earl Howe. Because much of the car's original equipment is intact, it can be restored without relying on replacement parts.^[14]

On 10 July 2009, a 1925 Bugatti Brescia Type 22 which had lain at the bottom ofLake Maggiore on the border of Switzerland and Italy for 75 years was recovered from the lake. The Mullin Museum inOxnard, California bought it at auction for $351,343 at Bonham'sRétromobile sale in Paris in 2010.

The company attempted a comeback under Roland Bugatti in the mid-1950s with themid-enginedType 251 race car. Designed with help fromGioacchino Colombo, the car failed to perform to expectations and the company's attempts at automobile production were halted.

In the 1960s,Virgil Exner designed a Bugatti as part of his "Revival Cars" project. A show version of this car was actually built byGhia using the lastBugatti Type 101 chassis, and was shown at the 1965Turin Motor Show. Finance was not forthcoming, and Exner then turned his attention to a revival ofStutz.

Bugatti continued manufacturing airplane parts and was sold toHispano-Suiza, also a former auto maker turned aircraft supplier, in 1963.^[1]Snecma took over Hispano-Suiza in 1968. After acquiringMessier, Snecma merged Messier and Bugatti into Messier-Bugatti in 1977.

Italian entrepreneurRomano Artioli acquired the Bugatti brand in 1987, and establishedBugatti Automobili S.p.A.. Artioli commissioned architect Giampaolo Benedini to design the factory which was built inCampogalliano, Modena, Italy. Construction of the plant began in 1988, alongside the development of the first model, and it was inaugurated two years later—in 1990.^[15] By 1989, the plans for the new Bugatti revival were presented byPaolo Stanzani andMarcello Gandini, designers of theLamborghini Miura andLamborghini Countach.

The first production vehicle was theBugatti EB110 GT which featured a 3.5-litre, 5-valve per cylinder, quad-turbocharged 60°V12 engine, a six-speedgearbox, andfour-wheel drive. Stanzani proposed an aluminium honeycomb chassis, which was used for all early prototypes. He and president Artioli clashed over engineering decisions so Stanzani left the project and Artioli soughtNicola Materazzi to replace him in June 1990. Materazzi, who had been the chief designer for theFerrari 288 GTO andFerrari F40 replaced the aluminium chassis with a carbon fibre one manufactured by Aerospatiale and also altered the torque distribution of the car from 40:60 to 27:73. He remained Director until late 1992.^[16][17]Racing car designerMauro Forghieri served as Bugatti's technical director from 1993 through 1994.^[18] On 27 August 1993, through his holding company, ACBN Holdings S.A. ofLuxembourg, Romano Artioli purchasedLotus Cars fromGeneral Motors. Plans were made to list Bugatti shares on international stock exchanges.

Bugatti presented a prototype large saloon called theEB112 in 1993.

Perhaps the most famous Bugatti EB110 owner was seven-timeFormula One World Champion racing driverMichael Schumacher who purchased an EB110 in 1994. Schumacher sold his EB110, which had been repaired after a severe 1994 crash, to Modena Motorsport, a Ferrari service and race preparation garage in Germany.

By the time the EB110 came to market, the North American and European economieswere in recession. Poor economic conditions caused the company to fail and operations ceased in September 1995. A model specific to the US market called the "Bugatti America" was in the preparatory stages when the company ceased operations.

Bugatti's liquidators sold Lotus Cars toProton of Malaysia. German firmDauer Racing purchased the EB110 licence and remaining parts stock in 1997 in order to produce five more EB110 SS vehicles. These five SS versions of the EB110 were greatly refined by Dauer. The Campogalliano factory was sold to a furniture-making company, which became defunct prior to moving in, leaving the building unoccupied.^[19] After Dauer stopped producing cars in 2011, Toscana-Motors GmbH of Germany purchased the remaining parts stock from Dauer.

Ex vice-president Jean-Marc Borel and ex-employees Federico Trombi, Gianni Sighinolfi andNicola Materazzi established theB Engineering company and designed and built theEdonis using the chassis and engine from the Bugatti EB110 SS, but simplifying the turbocharging system and driveline (from 4WD to 2WD).^[20]

Volkswagen Group acquired the Bugatti brand in 1998. Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. commissionedGiorgetto Giugiaro ofItalDesign to produce Bugatti Automobiles's first concept vehicle, theEB118, acoupé that debuted at the 1998Paris Auto Show. The EB118 concept featured a 408-kilowatt (555 PS; 547 bhp), W-18 engine. After its Paris debut, the EB118 concept was shown again in 1999 at theGeneva Auto Show and theTokyo Motor Show. Bugatti introduced its next concepts, theEB 218 at the 1999Geneva Motor Show and the18/3 Chiron at the 1999Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA).

Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. began assembling its first regular-production vehicle, theBugatti Veyron 16.4 (the 1001 PS super car with an 8-litre W-16 engine with four turbochargers) in September 2005 at the BugattiMolsheim, France assembly "studio".^[21][22] On 23 February 2015, Bugatti sold its last Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, which was named La Finale.^[23]

TheBugatti Chiron is amid-engined, two-seated sports car, designed by Achim Anscheidt,^[24] developed as the successor to theBugatti Veyron.^[25] The Chiron was first revealed at theGeneva Motor Show on March 1, 2016.^[26][27]

In February 2024, Bugatti announced the successor to the Chiron, which will use aV16hybrid-electric powertrain.^[28] In June 2024 the successor was confirmed as theBugatti Tourbillon.^[29]

• Musée National de l'Automobile de Mulhouse, home of the Schlumpf Collection of Bugatti cars

Wikimedia Commons has media related toAutomobiles Ettore Bugatti.

• Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S.
• Bugatti bibliography
• The Bugatti Trust
• Bugatti at LeMans

48°31′32″N07°30′01″E / 48.52556°N 7.50028°E /48.52556; 7.50028

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