Bugatti: A World of Style

What is style? Style has a textbook definition, which anyone can Google and discover a meaning. When it comes to style for automobiles, one name seems to stand out - Bugatti.

To the mind’s eye, style in cars means a look that defies the norm and seems to please every esthetic sense that one can muster. Bugatti engineering and design has a tradition of working together creating a vehicle that emphasizes style. Off and on for a while we look at certain of these appealing cars and visit the history of Bugatti.

Italian-born and French citizen, Ettore Bugatti, began the car manufacturing company that would create the automobile that would define a generation of uniqueness. The company was founded in Mosheim, Alsace in 1909, where Ettore wanted to fashion a vehicle that matched beauty with engineering. His was a heart of a creator and an artisan when it came to developing a car that stood with the other classics of time. Ettore Bugatti did not want to make a car that looked like every other motoring box on the road… he wanted the definition of the tangible and the intangible.

Ettore had only one child, Jean, which could have carried on the company name as far as the family would go. However, Jean passed on in 1939 and that ended the idea of Ettore seeing any offspring taking over the company. Ettore would live on until 1947, which seemed to be the end of the Bugatti Company.

Throughout its early history, only 8,000 sports fashioned vehicles were created and started to fall on financially had times. By the 1950’s Bugattis were having fewer models manufactured and eventually continued on by creating parts for the world of Aviation.

It looked as if the end was close by for the company that began with an emphasis on design and creation. However, in a stroke of fortune the Bugatti name would continue in the auto manufacturing arena when they became part of the Volkswagen Group. VW continues to use the name as a fashioner of exclusively made sports cars.

As mentioned. Bugatti engineering and artistry was reflected on vehicles of racing class.

A Bugatti special became the winning entry in the first Monaco Grand Prix. Other cars by Ettore were involved in racing a few had some notable victories. One of the statements that Bugatti cars made was they never made a showing without having some impact in the various competitions they were registered to run. The 1926 French Grand Prix, The 1927 Targa Florio, the 1928 French, Italian and Spanish Grand Prix; all examples of a few of the notable races that Bugatti automobiles would claim victories participating in.

Over the next few weeks, I will try to showcase some of the Bugatti cars that hit the road running and made names for them. Ettore may have never counted on his name being a standard for excellence in automotive quarters, but it cannot be said he failed to deliver something that could match the masters of time. It just goes to show that art and engineering can mix and match… in the world of style.