Bugatti The Bugatti logo Bugatti is one of the most celebrated marques of automobile and the one of the most exclusive French car producers of all time. The company is legendary for producing some of the best sports cars money could buy. The original Bugatti failed with the advent of World War II, but has been resurrected twice, most recently under the Volkswagen Group. Under Ettore Bugatti Automobile designer and manufacturer Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti was born on September 15, 1881 in Brescia, Italy, into a notably artistic family that had its roots in Milan. He was the elder son of Carlo Bugatti (1856–1940), an important Art Nouveau furniture and jewelry designer, and his wife, Teresa Lorioli. His younger brother was a renowned animal sculptor, Rembrandt Bugatti (1884–1916), his aunt, Luigia Bugatti, was the wife of the painter Giovanni Segantini, and his paternal grandfather, Giovanni Luigi Bugatti, was an architect and sculptor. Although born in Italy, the automobile company Ettore Bugatti founded was located in Molsheim, in the Alsace region of France. The company was known for its 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). Models Only a few models of each of Ettore Bugatti's vehicles were ever produced, the most famous being the Type 35 Grand Prix car, the huge "Royale", and the Type 55 sports car. Throughout the production run of approximately 7,900 cars, each Bugatti model was designated with the prefix T for Type, which referred to the chassis and drive train. Racing Success Bugatti cars were extremely successful in racing, with many thousands of victories in just a few decades. The little Bugatti Type 10 swept the top four positions at its first race. The 1924 Bugatti Type 35 is probably the most successful racing car of all time with over 2,000 wins. The company swept the Targa Florio for five years straight from 1925 through 1929. Louis Chiron held the most podiums in Bugatti cars, and the 21st Century Bugatti company remembered him with a concept car named in his honor. But it was the final racing success at Le Mans that is most remembered—Jean-Pierre Wimille and Louis Veyron won the 1939 race with just one car and few resources. The End Ettore Bugatti also designed a successful motorized railcar, the Autorail, and an airplane, but it never flew. His son, Jean Bugatti, was killed on August 11, 1939 at the age of 30, while testing a Type 57C tank-bodied race car near the Molsheim factory. After that, the company's fortune began to decline. World War II ruined the factory in Molsheim, and the company was never able to recover. The company attempted a comeback in the mid-1950s with the mid-engined 251 race car, with help from famed Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, and Maserati designer Gioacchino Colombo. But the car failed to perform up to expectations and the company was soon shuttered. Ettore Bugatti died on August 21, 1947 and was interred in the Bugatti family plot at the municipal cemetery in Dorlisheim near Molsheim in the Bas-Rhin département of the Alsace region of France. Latter-day Bugattis Under Romano Artioli In 1987 Romano Artioli, an Italian entrepreneur, acquired the legendary Bugatti name and established Bugatti Automobili SpA. The new company built a factory designed by the architect Giampaolo Benedini in Campogalliano, Italy, a town near Modena, home to other performance-car manufacturers De Tomaso, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati. By 1989, the plans for the new Bugatti-revival were presented by Paolo Stanzani, the famous designer of the Lamborghini Miura and Countach. The first completed car was labeled the Bugatti EB110 GT, advertised as the most technically advanced supercar ever produced. Bugatti EB 110 On August 27, 1993, through his holding company, ACBN Holdings S.A. of Luxembourg, Romano Artioli purchased the Lotus car company from General Motors. The acquisition brought together two of the greatest names in automotive racing history and plans were made for listing the company's shares for sale on international stock exchanges. By the time the EB110 came to market the North American and European economies were in recession and operations ceased in September of 1995. A model specific to the United States market called the "Bugatti America" was in the prepatory stages when the company closed. Under Volkswagen AG Bugatti EB 16/4 Veyron Volkswagen AG purchased the rights to produce cars under the Bugatti marque in 1998. They commissioned ItalDesign to produce the Bugatti EB 118 concept, a touring sedan which featured a 555 bhp (414 kW) output and the first W-configuration 16-cylinder engine on any passenger vehicle, at the Paris Auto Show. In 1999 the Bugatti EB 218 concept was introduced at the Geneva Auto Show; later that year the Bugatti 18/3 Chiron was introduced at the IAA in Frankfurt. At the Tokyo Motor Show the EB 218 reappeared and the Bugatti EB 18/4 Veyron was presented as the first incarnation of what was to be a production road car. All had sixteen cylinders. In 2000 Volkswagen founded Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. and introduced the EB 16/4 Veyron concept, a 16 cylinder car producing 1001 bhp (746 kW), at the Paris, Geneva, and Detroit auto shows. Development continued throughout 2001 and the EB 16/4 Veyron was promoted to "advanced concept" status. In late 2001 Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. announced that the car, officially called the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, would go into production in 2003. Financial and technical difficulties beset the company and in early 2004 the Veyron had yet to be built and sold. Collectors Today original Ettore Bugatti cars are amongst the most sought after in the world by collectors, fetching prices as high as US$10 million. The best-known collectors of Bugatti were Hans and Fritz Schlumpf, two brothers who ran a textiles business in Mulhouse, close to the Bugatti factory. Between 1958 and 1975 (when their business failed) they secretly amassed a remarkable collection of the cars. Now known as the Schlumpf Collection, it has been turned into one of the world's great car museums, the Musée Nationale de l'Automobile. See also List of automobile manufacturers. External links Musée Nationale de l'Automobile http://www.collection-schlumpf.com/schlumpf/ Bugatti official site http://www.bugatti-cars.de/ Bugatti Trust and Owners Club (UK) http://www.bugatti.co.uk/ Jacob's Bugatti pages http://homepage.mac.com/bugatti/jacob/ Bugatti Airplace http://home.uni-one.nl/bugatti/baa/kalempa.htm FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti