 |
 |
 |
 |
The History of Bugatti
Bugatti is one of the fastest marques of automobile and one of the most exclusive car producers of all time. The company is legendary for producing a few of the fastest sports cars in the world. Like many high-end marques, the original Bugatti failed with the coming of World War II, but the name has been resurrected twice, most recently under the Volkswagen Group.
Founder Ettore Bugatti was born in Italy, and the automobile company that bears his name was founded in Molsheim, a town in the Alsace region, which was then a part of the German Empire (Alsace was annexed by Germany in 1871 and restored to France in 1919). The company was known for the advanced engineering in its premium road cars and its success in early Grand Prix motor racing, winning the first ever Monaco Grand Prix. The company's success culminated with driver Jean-Pierre Wimille winning the 24 hours of Le Mans twice (in 1937 with Robert Benoist and 1939 with Pierre Veyron).
Bugatti's cars were as much works of art as they were mechanical creations, with hand turned finishes on the engine blocks, lightening holes in every conceivable location, and safety wires threaded through almost every fastener in intricately laced patterns. He regarded his arch competitor Bentley's cars as "the world's fastest trucks" for focusing on durability. According to Bugatti, weight was the enemy. Bugatti’s inspiring creations attracted many people from other fields of interest; like Arlen Ness who created a motorcycle, called “Smooth-Ness”, with the Bugatti style. He was inspired by the smoothness of a bronze casting of a Bugatti automobile.
Bugatti's disdain for his customers is as legendary as his devotion to his creations; in one probably apocryphal incident, upon greeting an unhappy customer returning to the factory with "What, you again?", he replied to the subsequent tale of automotive mechanical woe with "Well, see that it does not happen again!" and strode away.
Only a few examples of each of Ettore Bugatti's vehicles were ever produced, the most famous being the Type 35 Grand Prix cars, the "Royale", the Type 57 "Atlantic" and the Type 55 sports car.
Throughout the production run of approximately 7,900 cars (of which about 2,000 still exist), each Bugatti model was designated with the prefix T for Type, which referred to the chassis and drive train.
