“Nothing is too beautiful, nothing too expensive.” After waiting four decades for the opportunity to resurrect Bugatti, which had shut up shop in 1952, the charismatic Italian businessman Romano Artioli followed the philosophy of the great French marque’s founder Ettore Bugatti to the letter when the time finally arose.
In setting out to create the world’s fastest and most technologically advanced supercar, Artioli cut no corners. He negotiated with the French government for two years to buy the Bugatti trademark, spent a billion lire building the most magnificent avant-garde factory in the heart of Italy’s so-called ‘Motor Valley’, and poached the most talented designers and engineers from his new automotive neighbours in order to create his masterpiece from scratch and almost entirely in-house.
The resulting EB110 (so named because it debuted on 14 September 1991, Ettore Bugatti’s 110th birthday) was a true technological tour de force. Its sleek body was started by Marcello Gandini and, bizarrely, finished by Artioli’s architect cousin. Beneath the theatrical glass engine lid resided a 3.5-litre, five-valve-per-cylinder, quad-turbocharged V12 that developed 550HP. And beneath that was an aerospace-grade carbon-fibre chassis.
Refinement and useability were given equal priority to the dizzying performance (0–100kph in 3.2sec and 343kph flat-out), which gave the EB110 real-world versatility its rivals could only dream about. But despite its worldwide acclaim, the EB110’s star was only allowed to shine for a desperately short period of time.
Amid a global financial downturn and, as Artioli claims, industrial sabotage, Bugatti Automobili was driven into financial ruin. Just 115 cars (including two racers) were completed before the company was declared bankrupt and the factory was sealed on 23 September 1995. It’s arguably one of motoring history’s biggest ‘what could have beens’ and Italy’s greatest forgotten supercar.
This Bugatti EB110 GT
The EB110 we’re offering is chassis number 39068, one of the 84 road-biased GT variants which left the Campogalliano factory between 1991 and 1995. The car was delivered new in 1994 to a collector in the Czech Republic via the dealer Zdenek-Auto, specified in the classic shade of Blu Bugatti with a special-order dual-tone grey interior.
In 2001, having been acquired by a second collector in the Czech Republic, chassis number 39068 was serviced by Dauer in Nuremberg, Germany. By this point the car was fitted with a special rear panel between the taillights bearing the Bugatti emblem.
This revised panel was slated for production, though the Campogalliano-based marque collapsed before that could happen. Dauer serviced this EB110 GT once again in August of 2002, the corresponding invoices totalling almost 56,000 euros.
It wasn’t until 2012 when this Bugatti changed hands once again, returning to its native Italy to join the famous Treviso Collection of Pierluigi Compiani. Chassis number 39068 was subsequently sold by RM Sotheby’s and soon found a new home in Denmark. In 2017, with the mileage noted as 31,095km, the car was serviced by Bugatti’s customer service department.
Girardo & Co. acquired chassis number 39068 in July of 2022, immediately delivering the car to the renowned Italian EB110 specialist and authority B-Engineering in Emilia-Romagna for a comprehensive service. We also had the Bugatti professionally detailed and photographed.
Finished in the classic ‘launch specification’ with which the EB110 is most widely associated, this highly original and beautifully presented example is accompanied by its original user’s manual, Bugatti Automobili warranty and service booklet and multiple Dauer service invoices. The EB110 is a car that’s finally commanding the attention of collectors it’s long deserved. And chassis number 39068 is among the best of the ultra-rare breed.
