Born in Milan, Italy, in 1881, Ettore Bugatti developed an early interest in engineering. At 16, he began an apprenticeship at the Prinetti & Stucchi factory before setting up his own factory in Molsheim, France. Drawing upon his family’s artistic heritage — his father Carlo Bugatti was a celebrated furniture designer and his brother Rembrandt Bugatti an acclaimed sculptor — he approached automobile design with an uncompromising attention to proportion, detail and form. During the 1920s and 1930s, Bugatti produced a succession of legendary models, including the Type 35 Grand Prix car — one of the most successful racing cars of all time — and the luxurious Type 41 Royale, conceived as the ultimate expression of automotive prestige.
Following World War II, production gradually declined, and the original company ceased operations in the 1950s after Ettore Bugatti’s death in 1947. The Bugatti name was revived in the late 20th century by Romano Artioli, who developed the EB110 supercar — prized for its quad-turbocharged engine and advanced four-wheel-drive system.
Bugatti then entered a new era under Volkswagen Group ownership in 1998. Modern Bugatti models — including the Veyron, Chiron and Tourbillon — have cemented the marque’s status as a leading hyper sports car manufacturer. Still hand-assembled in the atelier in Molsheim, every Bugatti embodies the brand’s founding philosophy of ‘art, forme, technique’, continually pushing the boundaries of speed, engineering and luxury.