History of Bugatti Motor Cars / Automobiles

• 8.5.1. Bugatti

• Ettore Bugatti (Italian) designed a number of vehicles, starting with the Type 1 in 1898, before starting the Bugatti company in Molsheim (then in Germany, now in France) on 1 January 1910.   

• From 1902 to 1904 he designed the Types 3,4, 6 and 7 models under the dual name of Dietrich-Bugatti, producing about 100 of the Types 3 & 4. 

• In 1910 he introduced the Type 13 racing car, producing three other racing models prior to the start of World War 1 in 1914.

• The 5,027 cc Type 18 “Garros” that was produced from 1912 to 1914 was Buggatti's first passenger car. Only about 6 were made.

• Between 1922 and 1940 the company produced about 14 different racing car models and approx. the same number of passenger car models.

• The highly successful Type 35/35B racing cars were produced from about 1926 to 1928 and 45 of these cars, that were capable of 125 mph (200 kph), were made. Note: A 35B Bugatti racing car won the first Monaco Grand Prix in 1929.

• The 1940 Type 57SC was the last car manufactured by Bugatti before he died in 1947. During World War 2 he designed the Type 73 passenger car and Type 73C racing car, but these did not go into production.
  
  

• The company went into decline in the late 1930s and after unsuccessful attempts to revive the company in the 1950s and 1960s it was sold.

• In 1987 a new company called Bugatti Automobili SpA was formed in Italy, producing the 3,499 cc Bugatti EB110 in 1991. This company ceased trading in 1995.

• In 1998 Volkswagen bought the rights to produce cars under the Bugatti name, founding Bugatti Automobiles SAS in 2002.

• In early 2006 the company started delivery of the 7,993 cc Bugatti Veyron 16.4, producing about 300 that year. The car has a top speed of 252 mph (407.5 kph).

• Between 1910 and 2006 just under 8,000 Bugatti cars were made.