Ettore Bugatti

Biography

Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti was born in Milan on 15 September 1881. He built his first car, the Type 1, with Prinetti & Stucchi in 1898, and his Type 2 won a prize at the Milan trade fair in 1901. For the next few years he designed for others: De Dietrich, as head of technology from 1902; Émile Mathis, whose 'Mathis-Hermes (Licence Bugatti)' cars he produced from 1904; and Deutz, where he became production director in 1907.

In 1909 he founded Automobiles E. Bugatti in Molsheim, Alsace — then in Germany, today in France. In 1913 he also designed the small Type 19 'Bébé' for Peugeot. The Type 35, which first raced at the 1924 French Grand Prix in Lyon, became one of the most successful racing cars of its era, credited with more than 1,000 wins and five straight Targa Florio victories from 1925 to 1929.

His son Jean, designer of the Type 57 SC Atlantic, was killed on 11 August 1939 while testing a race car near the Molsheim factory. Ettore Bugatti became a French citizen in 1946 and died in Paris on 21 August 1947. The Bugatti name was later revived, and the brand's modern cars still carry it.