The Cité de l’Automobile in Mulhouse is already home to the world’s largest Bugatti collection and is often cited as the best car museum of the world. But not even its reputation could prepare me for the massive sensory overload last year, not just in terms of Bugattis of all epochs, sizes and purposes, but also pretty much everything of the finest, strangest or most revolutionary that Europe had to offer in the past 150 years.
Discovering the World’s greatest collection of automobiles at the Cité de l’Automobile in Mulhouse
This summer, the Cité received reinforcement from the Bugatti factory for a special exhibition called Incomparable Bugatti to pay homage to the 110th anniversary of the iconic French brand. The reinforcements included the Bugatti Divo, series production models like the Veyron, Chiron and EB 110, and also the Galibier concept.
The modern-day cars are escorted by the pre-war legends, like the Bugatti 41 Royale (three of the six ever built is actually resident in Mulhouse) a rare Bugatti Type 57 S “Atalante”, a strange Type 32 Tank, a Type 51 of Grand Prix race car, and only F1 car and very last factory race car ever Type 251.
The Cooperation is not without precedent, the Bugatti stage at the Retromobile also featured a lovely coupé from Mulhouse, paired with a silver EB110 and the engine of the Chiron.
The factory stages from France, Italy and Japan to bring variety at Rétromobile
But as somebody who has seen a lot in the European classic car scene, I can tell you this exhibition is a historical highlight for the fans of the iconic French brand. It combines high-end collector dream cars each could represent the top of any Auction with sales prices well over 10 million.
This is made possible only by the joint effort of the factory and the world’s largest Bugatti collection.
True to its Museum purpose, the Cité’s thematic exhibition goes well beyond cars.
The hall showcases artefacts, technical details, as well as the life and work of five major personalities behind the history of the brand.
The gallery starts with Ettore Bugatti, the founder, mended by the artistic legacy of his father, Carlo Bugatti, and surrounded by the creativity of his brother, the sculptor Rembrandt Bugatti.
Jean Bugatti, the first son of Ettore Bugatti, was considered among the most significant car designers of his time. Born into the renowned car company, he combined an artistic heritage with engineering studies, backed by the wealth of the Bugatti enterprise. He would also be 110 years old this year, matching the age of the Bugatti brand.
His personality, audacity and futuristic vision redefined Bugatti’s identity. His technical lead gave birth to cars with innovative design and spectacular style paired with unrivalled performance. Jean Bugatti designed over a hundred of the most iconic masterpieces, such as most of the 41 Royales the Bugatti Type 46 “Petite Royale”, the Type 55 Roadster, the Bugatti Aérolithe and Bugatti Atlantic Coupe.
Following Jean’s tragic death, Roland Bugatti took over the lead. Nevertheless, he could not ensure the survival of the brand in the 50s, and Bugatti went down, together with many legendary French car brands in that period.
It took almost 40 years to see the rebirth of Bugatti, thanks to the creative passion of the Italian entrepreneur Romano Artioli. He established a brand new factory in the supercar heartland of Italy for the production of an unrivalled hypercar, in the spirit of the original Bugatti tradition.
Since 1998, Bugatti has returned to the forefront of the world automotive scene, in the place where the brand rose to fame, following the vision of Ferdinand Piëch. The Veyron follows a similar approach and (mid-engined all-wheel-driven ) technical layout as the EB110, but its performance catapults it to another dimension.
The star of the exhibition is arguably the Bugatti Divo, a concept that will spawn a production version for the model year 2020. It is based on the technical platform of the Chiron, with longitudinal embedded rear central 7993cc W16 engine producing 1500HP. The name bears tribute to French driver Albert Divo, twice winner of the prestigious Targa Florio, in 1928 and 1929, driving a Bugatti 35B.
Unlike the Chiron that broke the 400km/h barrier speed record on public roads, the Divo is not laid out for speed but corners and driving pleasure.
The production is planned to be limited to 40 specimens, and the entire lot was immediately sold out, despite its rather steep net selling price of 5 million euros.
The Divo will be built next year in the Molsheim factory, and the first deliveries are planned for 2020.
The concept was presented in the Paris Motor Show, and visitors have now a chance to see it in Mulhouse.
Next up is a Bugatti Chiron the current production model, unveiled in 2016 that could go as fast as 420 km/h. The name pays tribute to the Monegasque driver Louis Chiron, a prominent figure of the brand (and his name also sounds pretty cool).
In August 2017, the car broke the world record of 0-400-0 km, driven by Juan Pablo Montoya, reaching speeds over 420 km/h.
This concrete car I could witness 2 years ago in the IAA Frankfurt, but any Chiron would leave a lasting memory.
For the anniversary the Chiron has been awarded a special series “110 years Bugatti”, limited to 20 cars, based on the Chiron Sport, marked with a tricolour flag to commemorate the anniversary of the brand in 1909.
The anniversary cars are fitted with the 1500 hp four-turbocharged V16 engine, and a dynamic rear wing that can serve as an airbrake at high speeds.
Following the demise of the Italian venture and the successive decades of hiatus, the Bugatti Veyron marked the revival of the French brand, courtesy to the Volkswagen group. The Veyron followed the footsteps of Artioli combined with the philosophy of all cars signed Ettore.
The Veyron had recourse to state-of-the-art technologies from the world’s largest conglomerate. It was the first series-production car to surpass the 1000 HP barrier, delivered by an exclusive 8 litre 16 cylinder engine. The car offered a top speed of more than 400 km/h without giving up the refined comfort of a luxurious interior.
As for the next set of cars, I decided to post them into the next post, to easy the loading of the articles. In case you are still curious, have a look at the next part:
