Bugatti was founded in 1909
and over the past century the company created many legendary high-performance cars,
with beautiful designs and setting unprecedented records
in the motor industry.
However, the journey of building some of the most impressive supercars in the world
came with some difficult challenges.
This is the Evolution of Bugatti!
Before Bugatti was founded,
Ettore Bugatti was an apprentice at a bicycle manufacturer.
At age 17,
he designed a tricycle with an engine,
the Type 1.
However, he was more interested in cars than bicycles.
At the time cars weren’t anything like we have today.
This Porsche from 1900, for example,
had a top speed of only 22 miles per hour,
and it was expensive,
with a price tag of approximately $4,000 dollars,
that would be equivalent to about $130,000 dollars today!
Shortly after making the Type 1
Bugatti started designing the Type 2.
In 1901 he finished his first car
and even won an award from the French Automobile Club for it.
A man named Baron de Dietrich was so enthusiastic about Ettore’s first design
that he put him in charge of car production technology at his company.
In 1903,
Bugatti designed the Type 5,
which was a race car and an upgraded version of the Type 2.
However, his boss didn’t appreciate
that he devoted so much energy to the production of race cars,
and his contract was terminated in 1904.
Bugatti made a few more cars
before he founded his own company
named Automobiles Ettore Bugatti.
The company was founded in 1909.
That is more than 110 years ago!
The first real Bugatti was the Type 10.
It was a small, lightweight car
that was powerful enough to win races.
In 1910 the Bugatti Type 13 was produced.
It had the appearance of a toy,
but surprisingly the lightweight four-wheeled dwarf
outperformed many competitors in the Le Mans Race
and came in second at the event.
This further established the name of the brand
as a manufacturer of powerful automobiles.
While the Type 13 could only reach 78 miles per hour,
it had exceptional handling, steering and braking.
In total 2,000 Type 13 units were made.
In 1912 the Bugatti Type 18 was launched.
It was an extremely powerful racing car
with a four-cylinder, 5 liter engine
capable of reaching 99 miles per hour.
At the time, that was an impressive top speed
since it was about the same speed as fighter planes could reach in the air.
A special version of the car was named the “Black Bess”,
which went down in motoring history as one of the first street-legal supercars.
In 2014 Bugatti made a special version of the Bugatti Veyron
also named the “Black Bess” to honor the legendary car.
This special model of the Veyron was priced at almost 3 million dollars,
making it one of the most expensive cars in the world.
Fun Fact
In total 7 models of the Bugatti Type 18 were made,
and only 3 are known to be still around.
One of which was sold at an auction at Bonhams
for a whopping $2.8 million dollars.
In 1913 Bugatti developed the Bébé
which was manufactured under license by Peugeot.
The Peugeot Bébé was a very small car,
hence the name which is French for Baby.
When it first appeared at the Paris Motor Show
attendees were greatly impressed by the modern car
that was cheap,
small
and practical.
The Bébé went on to become a huge success.
In fact, more Bébé models were made than any other Bugatti model.
In total 3,095 units were produced.
But then the First World War started.
It stopped the production of Bugatti cars.
Bugatti started designing engines for aircraft, instead,
since they were much needed in the war.
In 1920, two years after the First World War had ended,
a historical event happened when Ernest Friederich won Bugatti’s first ever major race
at the Grand Prix in Le Mans.
One year later an upgraded version of the Type 13
with 16 valves helped Bugatti win the top 4 spots at a race in Brescia.
From that point on, the 16-valve Type 13 was nicknamed the “Brescia”.
Another significant model was the Type 30,
produced in 1922.
It was Bugatti’s first touring car.
The car was designed to be suitable for both roads and racetracks.
In total 600 Type 30’s were built.
One year later Bugatti designed a cartoonish looking racecar.
However, the short wheelbase made it difficult to control the car,
and the car’s shape tended to generate lift rather than downforce.
This resulted in a disappointing third-place finish
at the French Grand Prix of 1923.
In 1924 Bugatti’s Golden years started with the legendary Type 35 race car.
It was designed to be light,
strong,
fast
and elegant.
The Type 35 became one of the most successful racing cars of all time!
Between 1924 and 1930
the legendary race car secured over 2,000 victories in various races!
In 1925 the Targa Florio was one of the toughest and
most famous road races.
Bugatti didn’t win this race just once,
but an incredible 5 times in a row!
The Type 35 could achieve speeds of over 134 miles per hour.
According to Bugatti
In 1926 Bugatti made the luxurious Type 38.
It had 75 horsepower
and could reach a top speed of 78 miles per hour.
In total 385 models were produced.
Today, a total of around 40 of these cars are still in existence.
For over a decade it was Ettore Bugatti’s dream
to make the greatest and most luxurious car of all time.
In 1926 this dream came true with the introduction of the Type 41 Royale.
It is one of the largest cars in the world,
measuring 6.5 meters in length.
According to Bugatti the “Royale” was the most expensive car of all time,
and still holds that title today.
However, the production of this car coincided with the great depression
and due to the high costs,
it almost ruined Bugatti.
Six units were made,
but only 3 of them were sold to customers.
Fun Fact
In 1983 a Royale was sold at Christie’s Auction
for a massive $8.7 million dollars!
Adjusted for inflation that would be more than $23 million dollars today,
making it one of the most expensive cars ever sold!
Bugatti unveiled the Type 44 in 1927.
It had a three-liter, eight cylinder engine
and was made for comfort.
The Type 44 proved to be immensely popular and sold very well.
In total 1,100 Type 44s were built
out of the 7,900 Bugatti cars that were built in total
in the Molsheim factory.
The Type 46 was a standard luxury car.
It had a 5.4 liter straight-8 engine,
with an output of 140 horsepower.
The model was a favorite of Ettore Bugatti,
and it remained in production longer than might have been expected.
Resulting in 400 examples to be produced between 1929 through 1936.
The Type 50 was a sporting coupe version of the Type 46,
but it was significantly more powerful.
While the Type 46 could reach a top speed of 99 miles per hour,
the Type 50 was capable of reaching up to 110 miles per hour.
Next came the Bugatti Type 55 in 1935.
Surprisingly the car didn’t have any doors,
which made it far less practical.
The car was also criticized for being deafening to ride in.
It became a very exclusive car
since only 38 units were produced.
In 2020 a Type 55 was sold at Bonham’s auction
for $7.1 million dollars!
One of the latest models released before the Second World War
was the legendary Type 57.
The car received an entirely new design,
created by Jean Bugatti,
Ettore’s son.
It was a touring car with a top speed of 95 miles per hour.
The car could be ordered in different models,
including convertible and coupé.
Multiple versions were made
including the famous Type 57G Tank.
The streamlined body was designed to improve aerodynamics.
The Tank won the 1936 French Grand Prix,
as well as the 1937 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Only 3 units were made, and only one still exists.
It is displayed in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia.
Another very special version of the Type 57 was made
called the Type 57 SC Atlantic.
The name “Atlantic” is derived from a heroine in Greek mythology, Atalanta.
The Atlantic was much faster than the original,
with a top speed of 123 miles per hour,
which is a 28 miles per hour difference compared to the original.
Fun Fact
The Type 57 SC Atlantic is an incredibly exclusive car,
since only 4 models were ever made.
Three are known, but the fourth is still missing.
Bugatti estimated that this Atlantic model could be worth as much as $114 million dollars!
This would make it the most expensive car in the world, by far!
In 1936 Ettore Bugatti was devastated
when his workers from the Molsheim factory started a strike.
He took this as a personal insult,
because he thought he had a special relationship with his workers,
and paid above-average wages.
And more bad things happened to the company,
when on 11 August 1939
Jean Bugatti died while test driving the Type 57 G Tank.
As if this wasn’t enough,
World War 2 started
and the Germans forced Ettore to sell the Molsheim factory.
After the war
the factory was returned to the Bugatti family,
but due to a lack of funds
Bugatti was unable to develop a new product range.
Two years after the war Ettore Bugatti passed away
on 21 August 1947 at the age of 66.
The company barely managed to stay in business.
In 1951 the first Bugatti was made
after the death of Ettore Bugatti.
The Type 101 had the same engine as the pre-war Type 57.
Due to financial problems only 8 Type 101 cars were built,
before Bugatti completely stopped production.
In total approximately 7,900 Bugatti cars had been produced in the Molsheim factory
in the 47 years since Ettore Bugatti founded his company.
Fun Fact
The Schlumpf brothers were avid Bugatti collectors.
In total they managed to acquire 98 Bugatti’s!
This included Ettore Bugatti’s personal “Royale”.
When the brothers fled to avoid prosecution,
the collection became state property.
In 1982 a museum located in Mulhouse, France was built
around the Schlumpf collection.
The museum contains the largest
and most comprehensive collection of Bugatti cars in the world!
In 1987, an Italian entrepreneur
and car dealer named Romano Artioli acquired the Bugatti brand
and established the Bugatti Automobili S.p.A..
The company moved from France to Italy.
Artioli invited some of the best designers
and engineers to help him turn his vision into reality.
Some of these designers also worked on the legendary Lamborghini Miura,
which you might remember from the Evolution of Lamborghini series.
Two years later, on September 15, 1991,
the Bugatti EB 110 was released
to mark the 110th birthday of Ettore Bugatti.
It received a 3.5 liter Bugatti quad-turbocharged V12 engine,
capable of going 213 miles per hour!
The car was also very quick and able to go to 60 miles per hour in just 3.4 seconds.
In 1994 Michael Schumacher purchased a yellow EB 110 Super Sport,
giving the company a great deal of publicity.
However, soon after,
he accidentally crashed the car into a truck,
and he blamed the “inadequate brakes” for the crash.
Despite this, the car was repaired and Schumacher kept the car until 2003.
In total approximately 140 units of this car were made.
The EB 110 was the only production model made by Artioli’s Italian incarnation of Bugatti,
since the company went bankrupt.
This almost became the end of Bugatti,
but in the next episode we’ll feature the revival of the Bugatti brand,
and the start of a new era
with Bugatti creating some of the fastest
and most expensive cars in the world!
Subscribe to stay up to date
with the latest Evolution animations!