starting bugati

His first-born son, Ettore, founded the company that bears the family name. At the new headquarters in the Château St. Jean in Alsace, he invented, designed and produced an amazing variety of vehicles, all of which displayed uncompromising integrity allied to a simple and logical use of materials.

This stylistic purism led him to call his creations “pur sang“ or “thoroughbred“.

Ettore‘s masterpiece was the Type 35 sports car, which firmly established the Bugatti reputation as one of the most renowned car constructors. The T 35 was considered a true work of art and also proved to be a commercial success.

With more than 2 000 victories over a period of almost 10 years in the 1920s and 30s, the T 35 won more races than any other car to date. From an early age, Ettore‘s eldest son Jean learned various crafts in his father‘s factory.

Considering himself an engineer rather than an artist, Jean influenced the company with his own construction ideas. His designs were increasingly streamlined and aerodynamic, with characteristically elegant, flowing lines –

best exemplified in his Type 57 – Atlantic. With its 8-cylinder, 12.7 liter engine, delivering 300 hp, the Royale was truly a “car built for kings“. The trumpeting elephant that a dorms the bonnet was sculpted by Rembrandt Bugatti, Carlo‘s youngest son, who died young. This most luxurious of Bugattis was the most expensive automobile of all time. And with only three models sold, remains so today.

Perhaps better than any other car, the Atlantic, or Type 57S, conveys the idea of lightness, elegance and perfection. Dispensing with any unnecessary detail, and with the form complementing – not distracting from – the function, it has fascinated and inspired subsequent generations ever since its unveiling at the Paris Automobile Salon in 1934.