Origins of the French brand Bugatti
can be traced back to the birth of Ettore Bugatti. He was the Bugatti founder
and the designer of the most successful race cars and luxurious vehicles of his
day. Born in 1881, he was one of the major pioneers of both automotive engineering
and the tradition of motorsports. He still remains famous for his visionary
designs.
During his apprenticeship at Prinetti
& Stucchi, he fitted a tricycle with an engine. He produced more such
models with different motor locations and managed to enter a few of them into even
races. All this while he was just 17 years of age! Fuelled by his fascination
with design and love for motorsports, he exhibited one of his own creations in
1901. It was the Type 2, exhibited at a Milan’s international exhibition where
his car won a French Automobile Club award. The first race car designed by
Bugatti was built in 1903. Further, the chain-driven car was an upgraded
version of the Gulinelli Type 2 model, with a 12.9-litre engine.
With Ettore’s son Jean, Bugatti built
numerous successful Le Mans and Grand Prix winners prior to the Second World
War. The post-war years were very tumultuous for the company as it went through
multiple shutdowns and changes in ownership. The future of the company was in
great peril when Ettore’s son died in a car crash in 1939. The situation
worsened when Ettore himself passed away in 1947.
The modern-day Bugatti brand emerged
in May 1998 when , after numerous ownership changes, Volkswagen AG acquired the
rights. After acquisition, they unveiled the EB 118, a two-door four-seater
coupe which paved the way for subsequent models. The genesis of the
awe-inspiring Bugatti Veyron came in 2000 when Bugatti presented the EB 16/4
Veyron. It was initially presented at motor shows in Detroit, Geneva and Paris.
This eight-litre mid-engine car, named after the French racing driver Pierre
Veyron, featured a 16-cylinder, 630 HP engine. The series production of the
Veyron began in 2001.
In 2010, the Veyron debuted as the
first new Bugatti in India, with a whopping price tag of ₹16 crore. The
distributor chosen for the Veyron was Exclusive Motors, located in New Delhi.
Exclusive Motors is also a dealer for Bentley and Lamborghini cars in India.
Globally, most offered Bugatti car models have been the Veyron 16.4, Veyron
16.4 Grand Sport, Veyron 16.4 Super Sport. These models along with Veyron 16.4
Grand Sport Vitesse, Chiron and the Chiron Sport are offered until 2018.
Perhaps, these models would be offered in future too.
