Bugatti remains one of the leading luxury car brands in the business. The manufacturer is famous for highly innovative designs that look to push the boundaries of automobile designs. Right now, Bugatti has the most expensive car on the market. Although the brand now focuses on sports cars, it is not how it started. Racing was the driving force of the Bugatti name.

 

Ettore Bugatti founded Bugatti in 1909. Bugatti had a passion for vehicles from a young age. His first invention was an engine-powered tricycle that he built when he was working at Prinetti & Stucchi. When he was 18, he created his first motor vehicle, which did well at exhibitions. This creation led him to De Dietrich, where he was head of technology in 1902. Bugatti made several models, which were all for racing, and that did not go well with the management. De Dietrich felt that Bugatti was spending too many resources on race cars and, therefore, let him go. He went on to work for Emil Mathis, building him a four-cylinder engine. In 1907, Bugatti secured a position at Deutz in Cologne as the head of production after making a 50hp car. During his time with the gas engine manufacturer, Bugatti was working on a personal project, which turned out to be the Type 10, the first 'pureblood' Bugatti creation.

When Bugatti entered the market, it gave the leading race car makers a run for their money. It had one of the most successful streaks at the Grand Prix. The Type 13, which was the successor to the Type 10, put Bugatti on the map as a racing brand. Ernest Friderich, an engineer and skilful racer, drove the Type 13 at the 1911 French Grand Prix in LeMans at the Marquee's first Grand Prix. Although the car was the smallest in the race, it went on to take second place. After the First World War, Friderich won the 1920 Grand Prix de la Sarthe at LeMans. When Bugatti resumed production, he made the Type 23, a 16-valve engine, which took top prize at the French Voiturette Grand Prix with Friderich. At Brescia the following year, the car went on to secure the top three spots. The Type 35 that was developed in 1924 remains Bugatti's biggest racing success. Jean Chassagne was the engineer who helped create the model. He was also the racer who entered the Type 35 in the Lyon Grand Prix. For five years since 1925, Type 35 dominated the Targa Florio. In ten years, the Bugatti model went on to bag over 2,000 wins across the globe.

Bugatti, the man and the brand, faced various challenges amidst the successes. In 1939, Bugatti's son, Jean died during testing the Type 57. The destruction of the Molsheim factory during WWII was the beginning of the end for the manufacturer. Bugatti worked to revive production without much success. When Ettore Bugatti died in 1957, production stopped completely. In 1998, the Volkswagen Group acquired Bugatti and under Giorgetto Giugiaro, produced a coupe concept vehicle that exhibited at the Paris Motor Show. Currently, Bugatti has the Veyron and Chiron models in production.