Bugatti is known today for its record-breaking supercars. The company has produced the fastest road legal production vehicle in the Bugatti Veyron and is set to launch a new car that will most likely beat that record. The company is now owned by the German automotive giant Volkswagen
The First Bugatti Automobiles
Bugatti was started in 1909 by an Italian artist and car builder, Ettore Bugatti, in the then German town of Molsheim, Alsace. Ettore Bugatti was at the time regarded as a brilliant designer, winning awards for his car designs. Before he started the company, he worked with Baron de Dietrich to produce cars under the De Dietrich-Bugatti brand.
In 1909, Ettore Bugatti designed the Type 10 while working as the chief engineer for a German engine manufacturing company. After resigning from the company, Bugatti started his own company and a factory in Alsace. Bugatti improved on the Type 10 design to build a racer, the Type 13, which became the first ever production vehicle by the company.
The Type 13 had a 1.4L straight four engine that had a power output of 30bhp. The engine had 4 valves per cylinder and was considered cutting edge at that time. The Type 13 had a 2-meter wheelbase and weighed in at only 300kg. The car had leaf spring suspension.
True to its purpose, the tiny Type 13 went on to compete in the French Grand Prix in 1910 at the Le Mans race track. It finished second after racing for seven hours. Bugatti went on to build variants of the Type 13 such as the Type 15, Type 17, Type 22 and Type 23. The road-going version of the car was known as “pur-sang” or thoroughbred.
Bugatti: A French Company
After World War I, the Alsace region of Germany was transferred to France in accord with the Treaty of Versailles making Bugatti a French company. New Type 13 variants were developed such as the Type 13 Brescia and Type 23 Brescia Tourer. A total of 435 Type 13 and its variants were made.
After the Type 13, Bugatti enjoyed success on the race track with the successor, the Type 35. The Type 35 had an astounding total of over 2,000 wins.
Though initially successful, the company folded in 1952, a few years after the death of Ettore Bugatti. The company was revived in the 1990s before the rights to the brand were acquired by Volkswagen in 1998. Under Volkswagen, Bugatti produced the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 supercar which was widely successful and set the record for the fastest street-legal production vehicle in the world reaching a top speed of 430km/h.
Ettore Bugatti would have been very proud of the car that bears his legacy.
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