Bugatti
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Automobiles |
Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French
The death of Ettore Bugatti in 1947 proved to be a severe blow to the
In 1987, an Italian entrepreneur bought the brand name and revived it as Bugatti Automobili S.p.A.
Under Ettore Bugatti
The founder Ettore Bugatti was born in Milan, Italy, and the automobile company that bears his name was founded in 1909 in Molsheim located in the Alsace region which was part of the German 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 important Art Nouveau furniture and jewelry designer).
World War I and its aftermath
During the
Racing successes
The company also enjoyed great success in early
Bugatti cars were extremely successful in racing. The little
Aeroplane racing
In the 1930s, Ettore Bugatti got involved in the creation of a racer
Railcar
Ettore Bugatti also designed a successful motorised railcar, the Autorail Bugatti.[6]
Family tragedy
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 a Type 57 tank-bodied race car near the Molsheim factory.
After World War II
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 a Paris Motor Show in October 1952.[7]
After a long decline, the original incarnation of Bugatti ceased operations in 1952.
Design
Bugattis are recognized for their focus on design. Engine blocks were hand 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 featured guilloché finishes on them. Safety wires were threaded through most fasteners in intricately laced patterns. Rather than bolt the springs to the axles 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 competitor Bentley's cars as "the world's fastest lorries" for focusing on durability. According to Bugatti, "weight was the enemy".
Important models built
Prototypes | Racing cars | Road cars |
---|---|---|
|
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Gallery
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1913 Bugatti 22, 3 seat Vinet
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Bugatti Type 50 i
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1938 Type 57SC Atlantic from the Ralph Lauren collection
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1933Type 59 Grand Prix racer from the Ralph Laurencollection
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Bugatti Type 43 Cockpit
Notable finds in the modern era
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.[9]
On 10 July 2009, a 1925 Bugatti Brescia Type 22 which had lain at the bottom of Lake Maggiore on the border of Switzerland and Italy for 75 years was recovered from the lake. The Mullin Museum in Oxnard, California bought it at auction for $351,343 at Bonham's Rétromobile sale in Paris in 2010.
Attempts at revival
The company attempted a comeback under Roland Bugatti in the mid-1950s with the
In the 1960s,
Bugatti continued manufacturing airplane parts and was sold to
Modern revivals
Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. (1987–1995)
Italian entrepreneur Romano Artioli acquired the Bugatti brand in 1987, and established Bugatti Automobili S.p.A.. Artioli commissioned architect Giampaolo Benedini to design the factory which was built in Campogalliano, 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.[10] By 1989, the plans for the new Bugatti revival were presented by Paolo Stanzani and Marcello Gandini, designers of the Lamborghini Miura and Lamborghini Countach.
The first production vehicle was the
Bugatti presented a prototype large saloon called the EB112 in 1993.
Perhaps the most famous Bugatti EB110 owner was seven-time Formula One World Champion racing driver Michael 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 economies were 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 to
Ex vice-president Jean-Marc Borel and ex-employees Federico Trombi, Gianni Sighinolfi and Nicola Materazzi established the B Engineering company and designed and built the Edonis using the chassis and engine from the Bugatti EB110 SS, but simplifying the turbocharging system and driveline (from 4WD to 2WD).[15]
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. (1998–present)
Pre-Veyron
Veyron era (2005–2015)
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. began assembling its first regular-production vehicle, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 (the 1001 PS super car with an 8-litre W-16 engine with four turbochargers) in September 2005 at the Bugatti Molsheim, France assembly "studio".[16][17] On 23 February 2015, Bugatti sold its last Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, which was named La Finale.[18]
Chiron era (2016–present)
The
In February 2024, Bugatti announced the successor to the Chiron, which will use a
See also
- Musée National de l'Automobile de Mulhouse, home of the Schlumpf Collection of Bugatti cars
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85223-364-8.
- ^ a b c d e "Automobilia". Toutes les voitures françaises 1920 (Salon [Oct] 1919). 31. Paris: Histoire & collections: 63. 2004.
- ^ L’Automobiliste, 1971 P. 7
- ^ "Bugatti Model 100 at the EAA Museum". Retrieved 2009-01-28.
- ^ "Bugatti Aircraft Association – 100P Airplane". Bugattiaircraft.com. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
- ^ Hearst Magazines (December 1934). "Streamlined Auto-Rail Car Used in France". Popular Mechanics. Hearst Magazines. p. 885.
- ^ "Automobilia". Toutes les voitures françaises 1953 (Salon Paris oct 1952). 14. Paris: Histoire & collections: Pages 6 & 10. 2000.
- Georgano, G.N.Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886–1930. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985)
- ^ "1937 Bugatti Atalante Supercar, One of 17, Found in English Garage, Associated Press, January 2, 2009". The Huffington Post. 2009-01-02. Retrieved 2011-05-27.
- ^ AISA (2011), p. 28.
- ^ Barlow, Jason (16 August 2019). "Bugatti Centodieci". Top Gear. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ^ Cironi, Davide (15 August 2015). "Edonis e il fallimento Bugatti". Drive Experience. Archived from the original on 2021-10-30. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ^ Horst, Jaap. "Bugatti EB110 Race Successes". Bugatti Revue. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ^ Copyright. Est February 2003. "Bugatti on TradeTwentyfourSeven website". Trade-247.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Ciferri, Luca (13 December 2005). "B Engineering". Autonews. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ^ "Bugatti: 1,001 horsepower, $1.24 million". CNN. 2005-09-16. Retrieved 2012-07-28.
- ^ "Manufacturing the Veyron". Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. 2011-11-30. Archived from the original on 2013-07-19. Retrieved 2012-07-28.
- ^ Sorokanich, Robert (23 February 2015). "The very last Bugatti Veyron has been sold". Road and Track. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ^ Wewer, Antje. "Porsche Achim Anscheidt, B AA 9117 H". Porsche AG – Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
- ^ Branman, Miles (2015-11-24). "Bugatti's world-challenging Chiron supercar will let you take its roof off". Digital Trends. US. Retrieved 2016-10-28.
- ^ Taylor, James (2016-02-29). "Bugatti Chiron revealed at Geneva 2016: the world has a new fastest production car". CAR Magazine. UK. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
- ^ "2016 Geneva Auto Show – Auto Show". Car and Driver. US. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
- ^ "Official: Bugatti Chiron replacement to swap W16 engine for V16". Autocar. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- Benedini, Giampaolo; Artioli, Romano. "Un progetto nello spirito Bugatti"; "Quasi un sacrilegio" (PDF). Bugatti in Italia; Schio, Milan, 12 November 2011. Associazione Italiana per la storia dell'automobile, conference 100 (in Italian). AISA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09.