Videos The Forgotten Supercar: Bugatti Automobili by Romano Artioli
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http://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/23/business/hard-times-for-a-dream-car-s-descendant.html
Hard Times for a Dream Car's Descendant
By JOHN TAGLIABUE
Published: November 23, 1995
MODENA, Italy— Romano Artioli has always glowed at the mention of the word Bugatti.
Mainly, he was stirred by memories of roadsters like the fabulous Type 41, dubbed La Royale, that Ettore Bugatti, the flamboyant Italian-born auto designer, built for Europe's gilded set between the world wars. After all, wasn't Bugatti the only car ever to strangle a beautiful woman who had fallen in love with it? In 1927, the dancer Isadora Duncan fulfilled her dream of driving a Bugatti, and perished when her scarf, streaming in the wind, became entangled in a wheel.
Mr. Artioli, who had amassed a fortune over decades by importing Japanese cars to Italy and by exporting flashy Italian sports cars to Germany, dreamed of reviving the Bugatti name on a line of luxury cars designed in the spirit of the originals, and of cashing in on the mystique.
But in September, Mr. Artioli's dream was threatened when a court here declared Bugatti Automobili S.p.A., the company he built to carry out his vision, insolvent after it failed to pay $125 million of debts.
Alberto Levoni, a professor at Modena's law school and Mr. Artioli's lawyer, said that Mr. Artioli had "squeezed dry the lemon" of his personal fortune, and that a search for investors, which turned up an Indian maharaja, among others, had been fruitless. Some have suggested that Bugatti's woes could threaten Mr. Artioli's other assets, like the Lotus sports-car company in Britain, which he acquired in 1993 from the General Motors Corporation. But Professor Levoni denied that this was so.
For his part, Mr. Artioli remains undaunted. The bankruptcy decision, he told reporters in September, "has thrown us to the ground."
"But I will not throw in the sponge," he added.
The story began in the 1980's, when Mr. Artioli, a self-made man from Bolzano in northeastern Italy, bought the rights to Ettore Bugatti's name, as well as more than 45,000 of his drawings and designs, from a French Government agency that had acquired them after Mr. Bugatti died heirless in 1947, his car factory in eastern France wrecked during World War II.
Mr. Artioli built a gleaming factory, Bugatti Automobili, near Modena, the birthplace of such legendary sports cars as the Ferrari and the Maserati.
In 1991, as 1,000 bottles of champagne were popped, he unveiled the EB110, a $300,000 roadster with a monstrous V12 engine and a six-speed transmission, on the terraces of the Versailles palace, near Paris. The name evoked Ettore Bugatti and the 110th anniversary of his birth in Milan in 1881. Some critics declared the EB110 the most beautiful car ever built. Two years later, he followed up at the Geneva Auto Show with a prototype of the EB112, a four-door by the Italian auto designer Giorgetto Giugiaro.
At about the same time, Mr. Artioli founded a company in Bolzano called Ettore Bugatti to market designer products like scarves, fountain pens, men's clothing and luggage, bearing the EB logo.
To finance all of this, Mr. Artioli had borrowed heavily, though mainly he drew on his personal fortune.
Though the designer goods sold nicely, only 150 of the EB110 cars were built. The car sold well in Germany, where about 35 were shipped, but it was virtually excluded from the crucial American market by strict safety standards. And as the yen appreciated against Western currencies, Mr. Artioli's Japanese car business stalled in Europe. By 1994, Bugatti Automobili was sputtering.
But Lisio Bartali, a Florence businessman, thinks the Bugatti name is a very hot property. Earlier this year, he led a group of fashion executives -- he would not name them -- in a bid to acquire Bugatti and pursue the strategy of reviving the car to sell designer products.
"We would have linked the car and the fashions," he said. Others, like Ferrari, which pioneered the marketing strategy of selling fountain pens to customers who could not afford the car, had "shipwrecked," Mr. Bartali said, "because they were managed by car executives, not fashion people."
Initially, he said, Mr. Artioli rejected the offer because he refused to relinquish management control. When insolvency was declared, the offer was withdrawn.
Professor Levoni agreed that "the big profits are not in the cars, but in the designer goods." But he said Mr. Bartali's offer had been turned down because he failed to guarantee sufficient financing.
Professor Levoni said the court had set the end of November as a deadline to obtain financing. If it is not forthcoming by then, Bugatti Automobili will be dissolved and its assets will be sold to satisfy creditors.
At the factory -- a series of concrete and glass wedges bearing the EB logo, and a round glass management wing in Bugatti's distinctive cobalt blue -- several dozen auto workers gather daily at the sealed gates, hoping for the arrival of a rich uncle who believes in the Bugatti mystique. Some workers sport blue sweaters with the Bugatti logo on the sleeve.
"You would hardly find a factory of its quality anywhere, not only in Italy, but abroad as well," said Renzo Reverberi, a 50-year old assembly foreman who left Maserati to come work for Mr. Artioli.
"If there's space in the tomb," he said, "I don't know how many revolutions Bugatti must have done in the grave by now."
Photo: Despite a ruling that declared his company, Bugatti Automobili, insolvent, Romano Artioli remains intent on reviving the Bugatti name on a line of luxury cars. (Sygma)
Hard Times for a Dream Car's Descendant
By JOHN TAGLIABUE
Published: November 23, 1995
MODENA, Italy— Romano Artioli has always glowed at the mention of the word Bugatti.
Mainly, he was stirred by memories of roadsters like the fabulous Type 41, dubbed La Royale, that Ettore Bugatti, the flamboyant Italian-born auto designer, built for Europe's gilded set between the world wars. After all, wasn't Bugatti the only car ever to strangle a beautiful woman who had fallen in love with it? In 1927, the dancer Isadora Duncan fulfilled her dream of driving a Bugatti, and perished when her scarf, streaming in the wind, became entangled in a wheel.
Mr. Artioli, who had amassed a fortune over decades by importing Japanese cars to Italy and by exporting flashy Italian sports cars to Germany, dreamed of reviving the Bugatti name on a line of luxury cars designed in the spirit of the originals, and of cashing in on the mystique.
But in September, Mr. Artioli's dream was threatened when a court here declared Bugatti Automobili S.p.A., the company he built to carry out his vision, insolvent after it failed to pay $125 million of debts.
Alberto Levoni, a professor at Modena's law school and Mr. Artioli's lawyer, said that Mr. Artioli had "squeezed dry the lemon" of his personal fortune, and that a search for investors, which turned up an Indian maharaja, among others, had been fruitless. Some have suggested that Bugatti's woes could threaten Mr. Artioli's other assets, like the Lotus sports-car company in Britain, which he acquired in 1993 from the General Motors Corporation. But Professor Levoni denied that this was so.
For his part, Mr. Artioli remains undaunted. The bankruptcy decision, he told reporters in September, "has thrown us to the ground."
"But I will not throw in the sponge," he added.
The story began in the 1980's, when Mr. Artioli, a self-made man from Bolzano in northeastern Italy, bought the rights to Ettore Bugatti's name, as well as more than 45,000 of his drawings and designs, from a French Government agency that had acquired them after Mr. Bugatti died heirless in 1947, his car factory in eastern France wrecked during World War II.
Mr. Artioli built a gleaming factory, Bugatti Automobili, near Modena, the birthplace of such legendary sports cars as the Ferrari and the Maserati.
In 1991, as 1,000 bottles of champagne were popped, he unveiled the EB110, a $300,000 roadster with a monstrous V12 engine and a six-speed transmission, on the terraces of the Versailles palace, near Paris. The name evoked Ettore Bugatti and the 110th anniversary of his birth in Milan in 1881. Some critics declared the EB110 the most beautiful car ever built. Two years later, he followed up at the Geneva Auto Show with a prototype of the EB112, a four-door by the Italian auto designer Giorgetto Giugiaro.
At about the same time, Mr. Artioli founded a company in Bolzano called Ettore Bugatti to market designer products like scarves, fountain pens, men's clothing and luggage, bearing the EB logo.
To finance all of this, Mr. Artioli had borrowed heavily, though mainly he drew on his personal fortune.
Though the designer goods sold nicely, only 150 of the EB110 cars were built. The car sold well in Germany, where about 35 were shipped, but it was virtually excluded from the crucial American market by strict safety standards. And as the yen appreciated against Western currencies, Mr. Artioli's Japanese car business stalled in Europe. By 1994, Bugatti Automobili was sputtering.
But Lisio Bartali, a Florence businessman, thinks the Bugatti name is a very hot property. Earlier this year, he led a group of fashion executives -- he would not name them -- in a bid to acquire Bugatti and pursue the strategy of reviving the car to sell designer products.
"We would have linked the car and the fashions," he said. Others, like Ferrari, which pioneered the marketing strategy of selling fountain pens to customers who could not afford the car, had "shipwrecked," Mr. Bartali said, "because they were managed by car executives, not fashion people."
Initially, he said, Mr. Artioli rejected the offer because he refused to relinquish management control. When insolvency was declared, the offer was withdrawn.
Professor Levoni agreed that "the big profits are not in the cars, but in the designer goods." But he said Mr. Bartali's offer had been turned down because he failed to guarantee sufficient financing.
Professor Levoni said the court had set the end of November as a deadline to obtain financing. If it is not forthcoming by then, Bugatti Automobili will be dissolved and its assets will be sold to satisfy creditors.
At the factory -- a series of concrete and glass wedges bearing the EB logo, and a round glass management wing in Bugatti's distinctive cobalt blue -- several dozen auto workers gather daily at the sealed gates, hoping for the arrival of a rich uncle who believes in the Bugatti mystique. Some workers sport blue sweaters with the Bugatti logo on the sleeve.
"You would hardly find a factory of its quality anywhere, not only in Italy, but abroad as well," said Renzo Reverberi, a 50-year old assembly foreman who left Maserati to come work for Mr. Artioli.
"If there's space in the tomb," he said, "I don't know how many revolutions Bugatti must have done in the grave by now."
Photo: Despite a ruling that declared his company, Bugatti Automobili, insolvent, Romano Artioli remains intent on reviving the Bugatti name on a line of luxury cars. (Sygma)
Great video and story behind the resurrection of Bugatti it was such a shame that they had to sink in a hole and then bought out by VW, but at least the Veyron and now Chiron having continued to set benchmarks in the supercar world just like the EB 110.
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Bugatti
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. is a French luxury sports car manufacturer. The company was
founded in 1998 as a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group and is based in Molsheim, Alsace,
France. The original Bugatti automobile brand was established by Ettore Bugatti (1881-1947)
in 1909 at Molsheim and built sports, racing and luxury cars. In November 2021, the company
became part of Bugatti Rimac, a joint venture between Rimac Group and Porsche AG.
Official website: Bugatti
Official website: Bugatti
