Bugatti

1909: After working for others, Ettore Bugatti (1881-1947) built his first car, the type 13, at Molsheim, Alsace.

The 1913 4-cylinder 5-litre Bugatti type-18 sports 2-seater, ‘Black Bess’, sold for €2,427,500 at Bonhams Automobiles d'Exception a Retromobile auction in Paris, 7 Feb 2009.

1924-1931, the racing/road type 35, one of the best looking Bugattis, straight-8, 2-litres. And later 2.3-litre supercharged T35B.

1925-1930, type 37, 4-cylinder 1.5-litre, and supercharged T37A.

1926-1933 the luxurious type 41 Royale, straight-8, sohc, 12.7-litre was the wrong car for the times and only six were built.

1926-1932 type 50, sports car in various body styles, dohc.

1931-1934 type 51, straight-8, 2.3-litre supercharged.

1932: Two (3?) type 53, straight-8, 4.9-litre, supercharged, hill climb / racing cars were built with four wheel drive.

1932-1934, type 54, straight-8, 5-litre supercharged.

1934-1939: Type 57 3.3-litre straight-8 unsupercharged, also 1935-1939 57C supercharged, 1936-1938 57S unsupercharged and 1936-1938 57SC supercharged. The 57S and 57SC were lowered and had a shorter wheelbase [Geo00].

1937 type 57

Racing versions won the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1937 and 1939.

A Bugatti type 57S sold for €3,417,500 (au$6.7million) at Bonhams Automobiles d'Exception a Retromobile auction in Paris, 7 Feb 2009. A 1937 57SC Atalante sold for us$7,920,000 at the 2008 Pebble Beach auction. A 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, chassis #57374, sold reputedly for over us$30 million, 5 May 2010.

1947: Ettore Bugatti died.

1963: Bugatti was bought by Hispano-Suiza (no longer making cars) which was later acquired by SNECMA [Geo00].

1991-1995: The last "proper" Bugattis were built in the 1950s, but the name was revived in the 1990s with the 3.5-litre V12, quad turbo., mid-engined EB110 (Ettore Bugatti 110th anniversary). The car had a 6-speed gearbox and four wheel drive and was said to be capable of 210+mph.

EB110

1998: Volkswagen acquired the Bugatti name and showed a front-engined W18 Bugatti concept car (the 18 meaning 18 cylinders!) at the 1998 Paris Motor show. The W format of cylinder banks, was a development of VW's narrow angle 5- and 6-cylinder V engines, but this flight of fantasy had 6.3 litres, 72-valves and direct (petrol) injection to achieve 410kW power and 650Nm torque. It raised the stakes on even VW's own W12 super sports car concept, perhaps trying to emulate the historic Bugatti Royale. The EB118 Bugatti had an aluminium chassis (shades of Audi) and used four wheel drive to get the power to the road.

1999: VW showed the Bugatti Chiron mid-engined concept car at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The Chiron was 4.2m long and 1.5m high. Powered by a W18, 6.3 litre engine with 72-valves (=4x18), and producing 408kW of power and 650Nm of torque, the Chiron could only be described as extravagant.

1999

2003: VW-owned Bugatti continued with plans to release the rear-engined, W16 (1999 show car was W18), 4×turbo-charged, all wheel drive Veyron supercar -- 736kW, 1250Nm, 1600kg -- in 2004. It's a bit silly really. (Pierre Veyron won the 1939 Le Mans race for Bugatti.)

2007: Bugatti allowed Top Gear's James May to verify the 250mph top speed (253 in fact) of the Veyron on VW's test track, although they would not allow the "Stig" to take it around the popular TV show's own test track.

2008

2009 September: Bugatti revealed the 16 C Galibier 4-door prototype fitted with a version of the 8-litre W16 engine with "two stage supercharging" and capable of running on ethanol. The car had ceramic brakes and four wheel drive.