Bugatti: The Best Car in the World

By Christopher Goulart

Ettore Bugatti produced his first car, with his own name affixed to the grille, in 1910. The Type 13 was built by Automobiles Ettore Bugatti at its headquarters in Molsheim, near Strasbourg in France. Over the years, he would resist innovations like superchargers and mass production to create some of the finest hand-built cars -- especially race cars -- in the world for three decades.

In 1998, German car maker Volkswagen bought the Bugatti name and reopened the factory in Molsheim. In 2005, the company delivered on its promise to live up to Etttore Bugatti's standards for speed and luxury with the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, and million-dollar supercar with more than 1000 hp -- and that distinctive horseshoe-shaped grille.

• Language: English
• Publisher: XinXii
• Release date: Jun 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312267763

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Ettore Bugatti: Automobile Pioneer and Legend

Ettore Bugatti was the legendary engineer and designer of the most famous Bugatti sports cars, the founder of the Bugatti car manufacturing plant, and one of the forefathers of modern automobile engineering.

Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti was born in Milan on 15 September 1881 and at the age of 17 he joined as an apprentice the bicycle and tricycle manufacturing plant Prinetti & Stucchi, where he built his first engine-driven tricycle with two De Dion engines. This was followed by his first automobile in 1900, financed by Count Gulinelli; the construction was so remarkable that it won an award at an internationally renowned industry fair in Milan. In 1901, Ettore moved to Niederbron in Alsace to take up the job of technical director of De Dietrich’s automobile manufacturing plant; since he was still underage, his father Carlo Bugatti signed the contract in his name on 2 July 1902. Working for De Dietrich, Ettore developed new automobile models and entered numerous races. After he left the company in 1904 his career then continued with a string of positions in automobile development and construction.

1907 was a pivotal year in Ettore Bugatti’s life. He married Barbara Maria Giuseppina Mascherpa, with whom he had two sons and two daughters, and then on 1 September he signed on with the gas-engine plant Gasmotoren-Fabrik Deutz in Cologne. In his basement in Cologne-Mülheim, Bugatti developed an extremely lightweight car, which soon afterwards he started producing under his own name. In 1909 he prematurely ended the contract with Deutz, collected his severance pay, and leased a disused dyeworks in Molsheim, Alsace. Thus