About BugattiItalian-born Ettore Bugatti built his first automobile in 1900. The project was funded by two brothers, Counts Gulinelli of Ferrara, and won the Grand Prix of Milan and a prize from the French Automobile Club. The Type 2 car caught the attention of Baron de Dietrich, a manager of an auto manufacturer in Alsace, which was part of Germany at that time.The next of Ettore's designs were done with license with various other companies. His first break came with de Dietrich where Types 3, 4, and 5 were produced from 1902 to 1904. Mathis, followed by Deutz, were successive collaborators. With a sizeable severance payment from Deutz, Ettore leased a dye works facilities in Molsheim near Strasbourg. The Type 13 was the first full Bugatti car--no licensing, no name-sharing, just Bugatti. The design was based on considering weight as an enemy. Ettore's mechanic, Ernest Friderich, drove a Type 13 to a second place... View more finish in the 1911 French Grand Prix at Le Mans small car class. A major leap forward happened in 1926 when Ettore decided to equip his engines with superchargers. The first of which was the Type 36. Grand Prix after Grand Prix would be claimed by Bugatti race cars. But even before the decision, Bugattis were quite successful in motorsport: the Type 35--a total of about 400 cars in all incarnations--held over 1,850 racing victories from 1924 to 1927. Ettore became preoccupied with railcar production and spent much of his time in Paris beginning in the 1930s. His 23-year old son, Jean took over the design office in 1932, when a new chassis was constructed. This car, known as the Type 57, is now among the most collectable and expensive Bugatti models. The 57SC Atlantic was only produced three times, but each of them survive to this day. It was reported that the first one built was sold by private treaty in 2010 north of $30 million. Jean was killed in August 1939 while test driving the Type 57C that had just set a speed record winning the 24-hour race at Le Mans. After the outbreak of WWII, Germany forced Ettore to sell the manufacturing plant in Alsace. Ettore died in 1947, but not before the manufacturing plant was returned to him. While the Bugatti name revival was attempted numerous times--1955's Type 251 lasted only 18 laps in 1956's French Grand Prix--it wasn't until Romano Artioli established Bugatti Automobili SpA in 1987 that fruition took place. The Bugatti EB110 was revealed to the public 110 years to the day after Ettore's birth. The car boasted 560 hp, four-wheel drive, and a V12 with four turbochargers. After 150 units were built, the company declared bankruptcy in 1995. Volkswagen purchased the rights to the name in 1998. Several concepts have been created but the only vehicle to make it to production under VW ownership is the Veyron 16.4. The Veyron has taken the top speed record for a production car twice. In 2005, it beat the incumbent Koenigsegg CCR at 253.81 mph and then in 2010 a Veyron Super Sport reclaimed the title from the SSC Ultimate Aero TT by reaching 267.86 mph. View less | |||
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