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Taking Stock of Bugatti's Future
Winston Goodfellow
12/01/2003
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Bugatti has attracted his share of disciples, one of whom attempted to architect his messiah’s resurrection. Italian entrepreneur and auto enthusiast Romano Artioli resuscitated the Bugatti name in 1987, constructing a purpose-built factory outside Modena, Italy, home to Ferrari, Maserati, and a number of other high-line sports cars. Artioli’s intention was to recapture the alchemical ambiance of the Molshiem works in the 1920s and ’30s, but his launch of the ultra-sophisticated $400,000-plus Bugatti EB110 was ill timed. The world economy had slipped into a crippling recession by 1992, when he brought to market his 215-mph mid-engine super car, of which just over 100 were built before Bugatti closed for the second time in 1995.
Through his company’s bankruptcy proceedings, Artioli managed to keep the rights to the Bugatti name; these he sold to VW-Audi in 1998. The "new" (or third) Bugatti exhibited several prototypes in the late 1990s before committing to production of the Veyron. For the past four years, this expectant experiment has undergone unprecedented exercises in engineering and testing with the object of making it the fastest street car in history: The Veyron claims a top speed of 252 mph, preceded by a quantum 0-to-186 mph acceleration in less than 14 seconds.
What place does the Veyron hold in the august lineage of Bugatti? The investment potential of the Veyron can best be gauged in the context of the valuations of surviving Bugattis designed and built by Ettore. "Bugattis are just like what you will find on the Big Board and Nasdaq," says Julie Summerville, one of California’s top collector-car appraisers, who has held Series 7 and Series 8 securities licenses. "You have your blue chips, and you have your dogs." Her rules for investing in cars are getting "the first of a kind, the last of a kind, and racecars. But you should only consider the latter," she adds, "if its provenance (the car’s documented history from the time it was made to the present day) is bulletproof."
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