Bugatti: The record holder of the fastest production cars ever

When you think of the word “Bugatti”, what do you see? Do you see fancy fast cars as quick as lightning, or do you see just a massive 16-cylinder engine sitting on the chassis that does nothing but makes roaring noises?  I imagine both, but not only do I see the fancy car as well as the engine, I also imagine the creator Ettore Bugatti, an Italian man who was always passionate about making unique cars.

The Bugatti car company makes the fastest car in the world (2013) which is capable of going 267 mph. The design and comfort and performance of Bugatti cars are mind blowing and shocking. A Bugatti is powerful and fast and has massive torque: every car they make is faster than ever before and the body of the car is one of the most aerodynamic. The car goes so fast all you see is just a blur in the corner of your eye. Today all Bugatti cars can go over 200 mph, but every car has to have better and better safety measures every time, as the car makers construct cars that each goes faster than the last one.

Ettore Bugatti was the creator of Bugatti company and was an expert on every part of a car. Though he lived a short life he did many exciting things during that short life: he would design and make cars, enter and win races and much more! Ettore created some of the finest cars between 1907-1947; for example the Bugatti type 29, type 41 royale: and the Veyron, which were all great cars. He lived from September 15, 1881 to August 21, 1947.

The design of the 2012 Bugatti Veyron honors the great history of Ettore Bugatti, the creator. Even if the Bugatti Veyron is completely still, its large torque and potential speed can be assumed by viewing its massive engine and aerodynamic body. This massive 16-cylinder car has seven gears, a sleek, and racy design, from the front of the car to the back. Each Bugatti made has a portion of the nose cut out in the original shape of the Bugatti grill.

Every little detail from the headlights to the paint job is special in this car. Today all Bugattis have a specially designed spoiler that stabilizes the car better than most other spoilers. This car has the ability to go over 200 mph, and has tremendous safety measures. This sleek car has a great-looking interior and exterior view. Everything in this car is handmade, from the giant engine to the glass of the rear headlights. Ettore Bugatti was a perfectionist when it came to designing cars. He was always very specific when he was making cars: for example he would be able to point out mistakes that almost nobody else could see. He was also an artist, and he could see how colors could go together before applying them. About midway through Bugatti’s life he made an attempt to design a more aerodynamic car that would make a car move faster. He was constantly looking for improvements in the shape and texture in the body and color. 

Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti, the automobile pioneer and legend was born on September 15th, 1881. He was only 17 when he joined a bicycle and tricycle manufacturing plant, Prinetti & Stucchi, where built his first engine-driven tricycle with 2 De Dion engines. In 1901 Ettore moved to Neidberbron in Alsace, France, to take the job of a technical director of De Dietrich’s automobile manufacturing plant. He entered several races and left the company in 1904. He continued with a variety of positions in automobile development and construction. 1907 was a very important year for Ettore: during this year he married Maria Guiseppina Mascherpa who had 2 sons and 2 daughters already; then on September 1st of that year, he signed with Gasmotoren-Fabrik Duetz in Cologne, Germany, which was out of the many gas engine plants he could have worked with. In his basement in Cologne, Ettore designed an extremely lightweight car, which soon afterward he started producing under his own name. In 1909 he prematurely ended his contract with Duetz, collected his severance pay, and used that money to continue his work in an almost-abandoned dyeworks shop in Molshiem Alsace, France, to work on his own automobiles. He began production of the Bugatti T13, which continued to expand over the years, and this is how Bugatti, as we know today, the great car company was formed.

For his friend Armand Puegeot, Ettore developed the Bébé Peugeot. More Bugatti designs were bought by Ragbag (Düsseldorf), Diatto (Turin), and Crossley (Manchester).

The outbreak of the horrid World War II was a major change in Ettore’s life. First, his family moved to Milan, and then to Paris, when and where he designed a powerful 8-cylinder and 16-cylinder airplane engine. Ettore Bugatti was from a family of many artists and he considered himself as a great artist and a constructor; today the Bugatti company is known for its level of detail and performance in the cars, given the artistic nature of Ettore’s father Carlo Bugatti (1856-1940), who was an Art Nouveau furniture and jewelry designer.

These cars are all handmade and extremely valuable. The amount of detail in the seats alone is truly amazing: the leather is hand-sewn, and I have had the chance to sit in a Bugatti super sport, the world’s fastest production car, which is one of the Bugatti mass-produced models.

Jean Pierre Wimille was a man who was crazy about racing and making cars. In his lifetime he raced for many car companies for example Alfa Romeo, and especially Bugatti. Also one race he competed in was 24 Huers Du Mans. This racer that everyone has forgotten about used to be famous and loved.  Wimille was a fantastic racing champion who won many famous races against many famous racers. Jean was born on the 26th of February 1908 in Paris and died on the 28th of January 1949 in an car accident. His father loved motor sport racing and was employed as a correspondent for the Petit Pariesien newspaper. His racing career was encouraged by Robert Benoist: France’s biggest racing star up until then. At 22 years of age, Jean raced in a Bugatti 1.5-liter light car; that was the beginning of his great journey as a racecar driver. In 1933, Jean was hired by the Bugatti factory team, which was led by the man who inspired him to race, Benoist. Four years later, in 1937, he and Benoist raced together, switching heats at Le Mans 24 Heurs Du Man. The 24 Heurs Du Man is a race all about the driver’s endurance, efficiency and concentration. The teams of racers must balance their speed and throttle and keep the car running for 24 hours without causing mechanical damage to the car, and look after its primary needs: fuel, tires and braking materials. Each driver must drive a two-hour stint, when the relief driver takes over the duties behind the wheel. The other driver snatches as much food as possible, resting until the driver’s next stint. Benoist and Wilmille raced a streamlined Bugatti type 57Gs, and the two famous racers shared a glorious victory in the classic event. At the end of 1942, Benoist asked Wilmille to join the French Resistance network which was operating in the Paris region. Jean accepted to begin working with him, and they both became secret agents. In August, 1943, the Germans arrested most of the resistance network. Benoist escaped arrest but disappeared. In the spring of 1944 he returned to Paris under a new name and began building a new sabotage network, which included Wilmille. Two weeks later Benoist was arrested in Paris and the rest of the network was trapped in a German raid on a house in the town of Sermaise, just outside the capital. Jean escaped and jumped into a stream in the woods, behind the house, where he stayed under some tree roots until the German searchers departed.

In September 1945 the French held the first post-war motor race in the Bois de Boulonge in Paris. It was called the Robert Benoist Cup. In May 1946, Jean began to compete in an old Alfa Romeo 308 winning a race in Bois de Boulogne. His first event with the Alfa Romeo factory team was on the streets of the suburb of Saint-Cloud in June 1946. In 1947, Jean was offered a racing job by Amedee Godini, a race car driver and sports car manufacturer, but Alfa Romeo wanted to keep him and so he agreed, he would race for Alfa Romeo and Simca-Gordinisin France.

The heritage of Ettore Bugatti still remains in every heart of every worker in the Bugatti car company today. The record holder of the most expensive production car ever and fastest production car in the world was born as a little car company in Alsace, Molshiem. This car company almost went bankrupt after Ettore’s death, but the German car company as we know today as Volkswagen purchased it, and kept its name and fame. The legacy of Ettore Bugatti still continues in the cars he created.