Montshire Minute: Bugattis

Originally aired during the week of May 25, 2004

Monday

You don't have to be a classic car enthusiast to know the name Ferrari or Lamborghini. Famous Italian sports cars, right? But you may not have heard of Bugatti. Or if you have, you may never have seen one on the road. The Bugatti model was designed by a young artist and engineer from Milan named Ettore Bugatti. 7,950 cars bore the Bugatti name, but none were built after the 1950s. As the years roll by, fewer and fewer of these classic cars are in running condition. The Montshire Museum will have on display one of only two fully restored 1936 Bugatti Atlantic Coupes that still exist. You might not see many Bugatti's on the road. But you can see this one "in captivity" at the Montshire June 11-13.

Tuesday

Ettore Bugatti was the son of an artist born in Milan in 1881. Ettore went to an art academy himself to study sculpture, but he became enthralled by the newfangled automobile and became an apprentice engineer. Bugatti's first project was to design and built a three-wheeled car with two engines. The machine was so successful in local races that he entered it in the Paris-to-Bordeaux run. The tricycle placed third in the first stage, and young Bugatti returned to Milan, intent on designing cars. When the company he worked for refused to build one of his machines, he started his own company in a small village in Alsace, France. To protect his property from invading Germans in 1914, it is said that Bugatti buried three racing cars under the cellar of his home before fleeing to Italy.

Wednesday

Looking at the graceful curves of the Bugatti automobile, it is easy to appreciate that its designer was an artist at heart. But Ettore Bugatti also is remembered by car enthusiasts as an engineering pioneer. Perhaps his greatest contribution to the automotive industry was the idea of modular engineering. That is, each model of Bugatti cars used the same parts from earlier models. Bugatti's single overhead camshaft design with three valves per cylinder came either in four-cylinder or eight-cylinder configuration. Transmissions and axles were interchangeable for pure racing cars or production models. The Bugatti Type 35 won hundreds of races. Fitted with lamps and mudguards, Bugatti racing cars could also be driven on the road.

Thursday

The French Bugatti auto company was a family affair. Jean Bugatti, son of the company's founder, designed a sleek coupe he called "The Atlantic." It is thought that the car was named in tribute to a French World War I aviation ace named Roland Garros, who died in an airplane crash in the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic Coupe was a limited series - only three of the cars were built, and just two remain today. This exotic car will be on display June 11-13 at the Museum from 10 am to 5 pm. Of special interest is the coupe's metallic blue-gray color, a hue not usually associated with Bugattis. During restoration, flecks of the original paint were discovered in rivets, proving that metallic paints were in use by car manufacturers in Europe earlier than originally thought.

Friday

Jean Bugatti, who developed the 1936 Bugatti Atlantic coupe, was only 30 when he died in 1939 while testing a race car in France. When his father and company founder Ettore Bugatti passed away in 1947, the Bugatti factory continued to produce cars, but it wasn't the same. Production ceased in 1956. Fewer than 8000 cars bore the Bugatti name, and as the years roll by, fewer and fewer of these classic cars are in running condition. The Montshire Museum will have on display one of only two fully restored 1936 Bugatti Atlantic Coupes still in existence. You might not see many Bugatti's on the road. But you can see this one "in captivity" at the Montshire June 11-13. The exhibit is free with museum admission.