In 1991, Italian businessman Romano Artioli launched the Bugatti EB 110, reviving Bugatti after a long time in hibernation. Whereas Artioli’s revival of Bugatti rapidly flamed out, it laid the inspiration for a second try to deliver Bugatti again below Volkswagen Group stewardship. That one caught, and right now’s Bugatti management hasn’t forgotten the roles performed by Artioli and the EB 110 within the automaker’s survival.

“Romano Artioli is part of our model’s historical past,” Bugatti CEO Stephan Winkelmann mentioned in a biographical press launch of the person behind the EB 110. “It was due to his initiative and perseverance that Bugatti was revived.”

Born in 1932 close to Mantua, Italy (hometown of famed racing driver Tazio Nuvolari), Artioli’s love of vehicles began at a younger age. When Bugatti ceased manufacturing in 1952, the then 20-year-old Artioli vowed to deliver it again. He spent a long time working as an importer and Ferrari supplier in his residence nation earlier than placing that plan into motion.

Artioli started negotiating with the French authorities for the rights to the Bugatti title within the mid-Nineteen Eighties, and based Bugatti Car S.p.A. in 1987. He needed to find the revived automaker at its unique residence in Molsheim, France, however the lack of amenities and skilled engineers within the area made that too tough, Artioli mentioned in a press release.

As a substitute, Artioli constructed a brand new manufacturing facility from scratch in Campogalliano, Italy. Situated within the Modena province close to the house bases of Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati, this allowed Artioli to benefit from the prevailing infrastructure of the Italian auto business. The manufacturing facility, which nonetheless exists right now, was designed by Artioli’s cousin Giampaolo Benedini, with a way more trendy look than the common automobile manufacturing facility.

Artioli briefly realized his dream. Launching the EB 110 in 1991, coinciding with Ettore Bugatti’s a hundred and tenth birthday, bought folks’s consideration, however the brand new supercar additionally had the efficiency to carry it. The all-wheel drive EB 110 sported a quad-turbocharged 3.5-liter V-12, carbon-fiber bodywork, and a claimed 218-mph high pace. Even Michael Schumacher had one.

Nevertheless, solely 128 vehicles had been constructed earlier than monetary points (together with money owed incurred by Artioli after an funding in Lotus) despatched Bugatti into chapter 11. When the corporate declared chapter in 1995, it had nearly accomplished a prototype for its subsequent mannequin, Artioli mentioned. This is able to have been the EB 112, an excellent sedan with a 6.0-liter V-12 in a front-midship place, and a carbon-fiber chassis, Artioli mentioned.

A handful of extra vehicles had been constructed utilizing spare chassis, a few of which had been additionally used for the SP-110 Edonis Fenice introduced in 2018. The VW Group, which acquired the rights to the model in 1998, achieved what Artioli couldn’t, shifting Bugatti again to Molsheim and preserving the automaker afloat long run. Just lately, Bugatti launched the limited-edition Centodieci as a tribute to the EB 110.