Bugatti was founded by Ettore Bugatti over a hundred years ago in 1909 in a place called Molsheim, France. Since then, the brand has developed a reputation for building some of the most exclusive and fast cars ever made. Still, the company has found itself in financial stress during its storied history and has been passed through a multitude of owners. What are some things that might surprise you or I about this company?
Here are 10 things you didn’t know about Bugatti
1. Artists
Ettore Bugatti comes from a family of artists and his father is a famous Italian furniture and jewelry designer.
2. 1939 Explosion
One Bugatti vehicle lost its air engine in 1939 in an explosion when it was being tested in one of the locations. The entire area nearly blew up because of it.
3. Bugatti Planes
In the 1930s, the Bugatti company got involved in the creation of planes in the hopes to beat the Germans in the Deutsche de la Meurthe competition. Their plane model would be called the Bugatti 100p but it never flew. It was designed by Louis de Monge, a Belgian engineer.
4. Bugatti Veyron
The Bugatti Veyron is one of the fastest, most powerful, most luxurious motor cars available at any price. Its specifications are out of this world including a 1200 horsepower, top speed of almost 270 miles an hour, and an average price of over two-and-a-half million dollars.
5. Very dangerous engine
When Engineers were testing the first Veyron engine in 2001, the engine produced enough heat that it nearly burned the factory building down.
6. Volkswagen claimed rights
The rights to Bugatti were snapped up by Volkswagen when Ferdinand Piech, the godson the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche inventor of the other famous racing luxurious car, decided to take over…..that along with the rights to Bentley and a host of other similar vehicles. His passion was developed when several years before the creation of the Veyron he demanded that his Engineers create a vehicle that could handle 1000 horsepower. He was also told it would be impossible.
7. Front Grill
In the early days, the front grill of the Bugatti Veyron was made out of aluminum. But it turns out that this wasn’t a good idea for high-speed testing. Surprisingly, bird strikes are as big an issue for this high-class vehicle as they are for airplanes.
8. Diamonds in the speedometer
One of the several options from the factory for a variance in the car was including a one-carat diamond into the speedometer and power needles. However, this option was not that popular. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a single picture of one of these vehicles on the internet.
9. Ten radiators
The standard car has only one radiator but the Bugatti Veyron needs ten radiators to keep all 1,200 of its horses cool. Since it takes 15 hours to build just one radiator for this vehicle, that means that it takes 150 hours to build the entire system for only one vehicle.
10. Don’t expect good mileage
When the Veyron runs at full speed, it takes 12 minutes to empty the fuel tank.
