UPDATED 1 p.m. EDT with the release of Bugatti’s claim that it has set the record for “fastest open-top production sports car.”
Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a French car manufacturer of
high-performance automobiles, founded in 1909 in the then German city of
Molsheim, Alsace by Italian-born Ettore Bugatti. Bugatti cars were known for
their design beauty (Ettore Bugatti was from a family of artists and considered
himself to be both an artist and constructor) and for their many race
victories. Famous Bugattis include the Type 35 Grand Prix cars, the Type 41
"Royale", the Type 57 "Atlantic" and the Type 55 sports
car.
The death of Ettore Bugatti in 1947 proved to be the end for
the marque, and the death of his son Jean Bugatti in 1939 ensured there was not
a successor to lead the factory. No more than about 8,000 cars were made. The
company struggled financially, and released one last model in the 1950s, before
eventually being purchased for its airplane parts business in the 1960s. In the
1990s, an Italian entrepreneur revived it as a builder of limited production
exclusive sports cars. Today, the name is owned by German automobile
manufacturing group Volkswagen. Source of WikiPedia