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Taking Stock of Bugatti's Future
Winston Goodfellow
12/01/2003
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"Bugattis are basically one of the best examples of a car as art," seconds Summerville. "It doesn’t matter what you look at, right down to the bolts; each was done with an artistic flair. The way the trim was fastened to the car was unique to each [vehicle]."
The allure of Bugatti has always centered on the man, his myth, and his unwavering passion for exacting artistry—which explains, at least partially, why the marque vanished when Ettore passed away. The essence of the cars is to enthusiasts the essence of "Le Patron," just as today’s collector Ferraris, in the minds of those who purchase them, represent a "piece" of Enzo Ferrari. Which is where Artioli’s ambitious effort in the late 1980s missed the point: Cover the Bugatti badge on the wedge-shaped EB110’s nose, and the car could have just as easily been a Lamborghini.
The same cannot be said of the Veyron, which has a distinctive identity all its own. Still, knowledgeable enthusiasts such as Russell are skeptical the Veyron will ever be thought of as a "real" Bugatti because it has no tie to the past: No heir to a Bugatti engineer or designer ever went near the project. "It will depend a great deal on whether they do anything to continue the mythology," he notes. "They have bought the property in France where the cars were originally made and are building a factory there. It is the execution of that that will tell a lot."
A marque, however, is more than a factory. Artioli’s earlier facility certainly had the right ambiance and attention to detail—even the drainage grates were adorned with the Bugatti "EB" logo. Moreover, the technically advanced EB110 was highly regarded in the automotive community at the time of its introduction when it was new; yet today, these vehicles struggle to fetch 50 percent of their 1992 selling price of $350,000.
Given the fate of the EB110, the new Veyron’s destiny as an investment—should deliveries begin as planned in late 2004—will depend more on its merit than its badge. If the purchaser covets the pure G-force thrill of the fastest accelerating street car ever made (assuming Bugatti attains its ambitious stated performance targets), the prospects for long-term appeal will certainly improve. At the same time, anyone set to order a Veyron with an eye to cashing in on the Bugatti myth should reflect carefully on the arc of Artioli’s Icarian flight: In other words, that an individual should invest his money in whatever endeavor afforded him the ability to write a seven-figure check in the first place.
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