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Taking Stock of Bugatti's Future
Winston Goodfellow
12/01/2003
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The answer to the first question begins with the second. The Bugatti marque was founded in 1909 by Ettore Bugatti. The charismatic cars "Le Patron" and his craftsmen quietly manufactured by hand in Molshiem, France, became by the onset of World War II, the stuff of myth. Born in 1881 in Italy, the son of a talented furniture designer, Ettore was more an artist than an engineer, his interest in mechanical devices driven by his keen observational skills. From 1900 to 1908, others—most notably Deutz—financed Bugatti’s experimentation with automotive design and engineering. This learning period allowed him to attain both the mechanical aptitude and confidence necessary to form his own company—though Ettore was much more an artist than an innovator or executive, ruling his factory like a personal fiefdom and often touring the facility on horseback. When his employees went on strike in 1936, his autocratic, eccentric nature was so offended that he moved to Paris, leaving his son Jean, then in his 20s, in charge of the works.
Ettore’s creative talents combined beautifully with numerous racing successes in the 1920s, such that, during the following decade, the Bugatti Type 55 and 57 enjoyed reputations as grand as their production numbers were small. These breathtaking 100-mph hand-built roadsters were in effect the motorized manifestations of a highly refined aesthetic that would inform the lineaments of future car designers.
The year 1939, however, marked the beginning of Bugatti’s decline. This turn of fate began with the death of Jean during a test drive, only one month before World War II broke out. The loss of his son and the sweeping chaos of war were dual blows from which Ettore never recovered. He died in 1947, leaving behind him a company that floundered under the direction of his youngest son, Roland. The last Bugatti—the supercharged 200-hp 101C—emerged from the workshop in 1951. Yet Ettore’s legacy would not only survive, but flourish, as new generations discovered the pure beauty and power he brought to his designs. The stature of cars among historians and collectors has burgeoned since production ceased, and the cars themselves have consistently set records at auction: One of the six Type 41 Royales made sold at auction in the 1980s for several million dollars.
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