The ultimate Bugattis

The Veyron is testament to Ettore Bugatti’s vision of producing the ultimate car

To celebrate the anniversary of this record-breaking sale, Vijay Pattni takes a look at the incredible machines produced by the Italian brand – including the mighty Bugatti Veyron.

Ettore Bugatti’s ambition was to become a great artist. But the Italian considered his brother to be more talented, so turned his hand to engineering.

Settling in the town of Molsheim in the Alsace region of France, Bugatti began building cars – without the proper training and study – which focused as much on art as they did on engineering.

And the company bearing his surname went on to build some of the world’s most exclusive and high-performance machines ever made.

Here are the top five:

1. Bugatti Veyron (2006)

Eight litres. 16.4 cylinders. And 1,001bhp.

The Bugatti Veyron was [briefly] the world’s most powerful production car – and still remains one of the world’s most famous.

Under the stewardship of new owners Volkswagen, Bugatti still hasn’t turned its fortunes around – each Veyron sold is at a loss.

The Veyron is testament to Ettore Bugatti’s vision of producing the ultimate car.

2. Bugatti Type 35 (1924)

The Bugatti Type 35 won the first ever Monaco Grand Prix, and went on to win over 1,000 races in its time.

“This was the world beater”, explains Richard Day, curator at the Bugatti Trust.

While the Grand Prix car’s engine produced between 90bhp and 120bhp, it only weighed 750kg – making it a sprightly and agile sportscar, with many regarding it as the most beautiful pre-war car built.

3. Bugatti Type 57 (1936)

This ‘tank-bodied’ racing car was a rare sight – Bugatti built just four.

Each produced approximately 200bhp from its 3.3-litre eight-cylinder engine and weighed in at 950kg.

A second generation Lotus Elise – built more than 60 years later – weighed almost the same and had similar power.

4. Bugatti ‘Royale’ (1929)

No round-up of great Bugattis would be complete without this – one of the most opulent, exclusive, luxurious and famous cars ever built.

“The near 21ft Royale was the ultimate in many ways”, explains Richard.

Its mammoth 12.7-litre engine produced between 275 and 300bhp and had to lug around approximately 3175kg of bulk.

Ettore Bugatti kept one of the six Royales made as his personal car.

But while it was a magnificent feat – it was a sales failure.

“Bugatti couldn’t sell any because of the economic depression of the 1930s” says Richard. “He expected Royalty to be interested in the Royale, but I don’t think it worked out.”

As testament to its strength, the remaining engines were used in another fashion – to power locomotives on France’s railways.