Bugatti |
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1909: After working for others, Ettore Bugatti (1881-1947) built his first car, the type 13, at Molsheim, Alsace. 1910: "Work began on the type 13 in 1910." — Bugatti The 1913 4-cylinder 5-litre Bugatti type-18 sports 2-seater, ‘Black Bess’ (chassis #474), sold for €2,427,500 at Bonhams Automobiles d'Exception a Retromobile auction in Paris, 7 February 2009. 1921: A development of the type 13, the type 13 'Brescia', 1,453cc, 4-cyl., 4 valves/cyl., 490kg, known after the Grand Prix for Voiturettes in Brescia in September 1921 where type 13s finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. — Bugatti 1922: The type 30, 8-cyl., 2-litres, ohc, 3-valves/cyl. — Bugatti
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.
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. A 1932 Bugatti type 55 two-seat Super Sport, coachwork (1933) by Carrosserie Figoni, chassis #55221, engine #26 (ex 55223), sold for €4,600,000 at Bonhams 'Les Grandes Marques' auction, Paris, 6 Feb. 2020. Chassis #55220, engine #21, a 1932 Super Sports Roadster, coachwork by Jean Bugatti Design, sold for us$7,100,000 at Bonhams 'Amelia Island' auction 5 March 2020.
1947: Ettore Bugatti died. 1963: Bugatti was bought by Hispano-Suiza (no longer making cars) which was later acquired by SNECMA [Geo00].
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.
2009 September: Bugatti revealed the front-engined 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. 2010, July 4: A Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport raised the speed record for a “production” car to 431.07km/h (267.9mph). 2011, June 24: "The final Bugatti Veyron has now been ordered ..." — B. 2012:
2016, March, Geneva: Bugatti revealed a pre-production Chiron, looking very much a Veyron+, 8-litre, W16, 4-turbo, 1,103kW, 1600Nm, 400+km/h (a distant resemblance to the 1999 'Chiron' concept car). Deliveries to customers began in March 2017. In December, Bugatti announced that it had delivered its target of 70 Chirons for 2017. 2019, September 2: "A pre-production vehicle of a Bugatti Chiron derivative [was] the first hyper sports car to break the magic 300-mile-per-hour barrier (482.80 km/h). [And] Bugatti has set a new TUV-certified speed record with 304.773mph (490.484 km/h). ..." — Bugatti. (One way, on a test track.) 2021 November 2: "Rimac Automobili and Bugatti Begin Operating Under New Company: Bugatti Rimac ..." — Rimac Automobili. 2022 August 20: The limited (99) edition Bugatti 'Mistral' roadster (open) was shown at Monterey, said to be Bugatti's last W16-engined car. Should an electric or hybrid be expected next. |
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