a dream in blue that ends (fastest cars in the world)

It is the story of an era, that of easy money, Wall Street traders, flambe and the Bugatti EB110. If one day could mark these funny years with this funny car, it would be September 15, 1991, which celebrates the 110th anniversary of the birth of Ettore Bugatti, hence the name of the car.

That day, on the grounds of La Défense, in front of 5,000 guests, the car was launched by its godfather: Alain Delon. A parade on the Champs-Élysées follows, with a lavish dinner at Versailles. Along with the actor, Romano Artioli enjoys this moment, his moment. He is the reincarnation of the Molsheim legend. And he wanted a car-like launch: unique.

He, a Ferrari and Suzuki dealer, wanted to recreate the most beautiful, most expensive and fastest car in the world. The EB 110 will actually be clocked at a speed of 342 km/h on the Nardo track. Hurry up, then. Dear, him too. Even if the 2.1 million francs claimed to buy the machine represent just over 470,000 euros today, far from the first Bugatti Chiron today.

A billion to see great things. Too big?

Artioli has been thinking about this supercar since 1987. Another sports car star was in the loop at the time: Ferrucio Lamborghini himself. He sold his shares of the brand he founded and found himself free as air. But he is not convinced. No problem, the technician continues. With the French economist, Jean-Marc Borel, he collected a billion francs at that time. This is not far from 300 million euros today, which certainly represents a total, but perhaps not enough to create a brand, and a model, from scratch.

Especially since Artioli sees very big things, it is clear that they revolve around himself and the greatest. Paolo Stanzani, one of the fathers of the Lamborghini Miura and Countach, heads the operation. The Bugatti brand was bought from Snecma, which was its owner, and in the design office, with his team, Stanzani designed the engine. It will be a 3.5 liter V12, supercharged with four turbos to produce 550 hp at 8,500 rpm and a torque of 608Nm. The chassis is made of carbon. Designed by Aérospatiale. For the design, an important aspect, it has been entrusted to the greatest, obviously, and it is Marcello Gandini who will follow the lines of the EB110.

But to build such a car, you need a suitable case. No problem: Artioli is building a blue Bugatti factory in Campogalliano, right in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. nice car, between Modena (Maserati), Sant’Agata Bolognese (Lamborghini) and Maranello (Ferrari). 220 people will work there to assemble the cars.

So everything works like clockwork. But not at all. Is Romano Artioli a megalomaniac? irascible? Still, there is a whiff of discontent with sales at Bugatti. Stanzani closed the door with force, and Gandini did not demand his work, the last car, according to him, very different from his drawing. In addition, during the first tests, some testers will also criticize the downside of the EB 110.

But finally, it exists, and following its launch in September 91, the first examples were produced. But it would take a lot more for the good blue factory to be profitable. Jean-Marc Borel would recount, many years later, “that we would have to sell 152 cars a year to make money”. His company will sell only 139 in 4 years, at the time of its sale. In these four years, at Bugatti, we don’t do things by halves. There are no small players in Campogalliano. To assemble the EB110, it takes 54 days, compared to less than a day in Ferrari. Only the gear lever costs the price of a Fiat 500 and at the time of delivery, about ten factory workers come to the customer to explain, at length and over several days, how to drive and maintain their decoration.

So it is not surprising that on September 23, 1995, only the bailiff had access to the blue factory. Workers are down, bankruptcy has been declared. Artioli lost almost everything. Bugatti, of course, but also Ferrari since he was angry with Commander from 1987, a year before his death. As for Suzuki, the Japanese no longer need importer Artioli, as it handles its business directly through its local subsidiary.

An Italian entrepreneur bought Lotus to try to rebuild himself, but in vain. Full of hatred, he explained, a few years ago to the Modena Gazette, that the mafia, who for a long time were suspected of financing the launch of Bugatti with him, do not believe us. “ The mafia is that of my competitors who drowned the company, and prevented investors from joining me.” Now 91 years old, he has put his affairs in order, but he still has blue dreams. The paint went to Molsheim, in Alsace, under the Volkswagen and Rimac banners. Another story.