adminhonour of having some of them gracing our roads.
Names that immediately come to mind are your Aston Martins and Ferraris, which a few of our rich Zimbabweans have managed to import into the country.
However, there are some models that are making waves on other continents such as Europe, the cradle of car manufacturing, that have yet to reach our shores.
In Europe, Italians, the French and Germans have mastered the art of making these sexy and spunky roadsters from your Bugatti’s to Lamborghinis adding the zee into crazy to make it all interesting.
Personally, I love the Italian craftsmanship because they have pioneered the art of making almost perfect automobiles from the early 1900s to date.
This week I am focusing on the history of a great car that has stood the test of time and the price tag on every model of this car goes to show that money is equal to great value.
I am talking of the Bugatti that was created by Ettore Bugatti.
If I had the opportunity to have lived during his time, he would have definitely been my type of guy.
The Italian-born Ettore Bugatti cut his teeth in the profession in the manner that other automotive pioneers did, building bicycles at the turn of the 20th century.
He eventually designed and engineered a series of early cars for several different European car companies.
He produced his first car, with his own name affixed to the grille, in 1910.
The Type 13 was built by Automobiles Ettore Bugatti at its headquarters in Molsheim, near Strasbourg in France.
The car had a 1,3-litre four-cylinder engine with 20 bhp and a top speed of 100km/h.
“Le Patron” as Ettore Bugatti would be known, was only in his 20s at the time, and already known for his stubbornness.
Over the years, he would resist innovations like superchargers and mass production to create some of the finest hand-built cars – especially race cars – in the world for three decades.
Like most auto builders at the time, especially in Europe, innovations for the track influenced designs for the street.
It also influenced buyers to buy it in an age before the advent of the television.
Ettore Bugatti was an avid racer himself and built cars, painted with a distinctive French blue, that dominated the track, like Type 13 that took the top four spots in Brescia, Italy, in 1921.
The Type 13 became known as the “Brescia” and was the highest-selling Bugatti ever, with 2 000 cars finding new owners.
The Type 35 was the first Bugatti to perform as well on the track as it did on the road.
Again, like so many car manufacturers at the beginning of the auto age, Bugatti was a family business.
Ettore’s oldest son Jean took over the company at the end of the 1920s.
Jean was responsible for (among other cars) the Type 41, known as the “Royale” that was intended for royal customers.
The massive, 13-litre luxury car cost twice as much as a contemporary Rolls-Royce and never found many buyers, despite the dancing elephant hood ornament sculpted by Ettore’s brother Rembrandt.
Jean died during a test drive in 1939, and Ettore took over the reigns again.
After Ettore’s death in 1947, his younger son Roland took charge of the company.
After World War II, many European car companies struggled to survive.
Rather than declare bankruptcy, Bugatti closed its doors. But 30 years later, a supercar fever swept the globe.
Italian Romano Artioli revived the brand – but not the Molsheim factory – by introducing the EB110 in time for Ettore Bugatti’s 110th birthday in 1991.
Despite the tiny signature horseshoe-shaped grille, there were only about 150 EB110s produced, and the company’s second coming was cut short in 1995.
Third Time’s a Charm, in 1998, German carmaker Volkswagen bought the Bugatti name and reopened the factory in Molsheim (not exactly the same facility, but a shiny, new, modern one).
In 2005, the company delivered on its promise to live up to Etttore Bugatti’s standards for speed and luxury with the Bugatti Veyron 16,4, and million-dollar super car with more than 1000 hp, and that distinctive horseshoe-shaped grille.
In 2009 there was another installment to the family which has super car lovers with the cash rushing to upgrade.
This year the fresh and all new addition has been introduced. It looks and feels like 2 million bucks and it is almost that much.
The 2011 Bugatti Veyron 16,4 is an engineering masterpiece that easily belongs in the car collection of any extremely wealthy automotive connoisseur.
Having one in Harare would have half the population knowing who you are because it’s a look at me and weep attraction.
I am still amazed at the history of this super car, but looking at the first vehicles they made, you can see that this was not child’s play from the beginning . . . it was serious stuff.
Till next week, be safe.
- Fact D. Jeke is a motoring enthusiast who has attended auto shows, rallies and has written for various publications in the region for the last decade. She can be contacted via email on [email protected]
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