Bugatti Automobili SpA

Bugatti Automobili SpA was a sports car manufacturing company.

In 1987 the legendary Bugatti name was acquired by Romano Artioli, an Italian entrepreneur who established the manufacturing company, Bugatti Automobili SpA. The new company built a factory designed by the architect Giampaolo Benedini in Campogalliano, Italy, a town near Modena, home to other performance-car manufacturers De Tomaso, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati.

By 1989, the plans for the new Bugatti-revival were presented by Paolo Stanzani, the famous designer of the Lamborghini Miura and Countach. The first completed car was labeled the Bugatti EB110 GT, advertised as the most technically advanced supercar ever produced. It was unveiled on the anniversary date of September 15, 1991 in Versailles, France and another in front of the Grande Arche at La Défense in Paris exactly 110 years after Ettore Bugatti's birth.

The car had a 60 valve, an unprecedented quad turbo V12 3500cc engine of 611bhp @ 8250 rpm, powering all four wheels through a six-speed forward gear box, and was capable of 212 mph (341 km/h). In 1992, a lighter and more powerful model, the EB110 SS (either Sport Stradale or SuperSport) was introduced. This one was capable of 352 km/h and 0-100 km/h in 3.2 seconds.

Constructed on a double wishbone chassis, the body, built by aircraft company, Aerospatiale, was made from carbon fibre. Equipped with Stanzani's famous lifting scissor doors, it had a glass engine cover that provided a view of the massive V12 engine along with a speed-sensitive electronic rear wing that could be raised at the flick of a switch. Five aluminum chassis pre-production prototypes were built, followed by eight with composite chassis. Following these, it is believed that only 95 GT and 31 SS production models were constructed.

On August 27, 1993, through his holding company, ACBN Holdings S.A. of Luxembourg, Romano Artioli purchased the Lotus car company from General Motors. The acquisition brought together two of the greatest names in automotive racing history and plans were made for listing the company's shares for sale on internmational stock exchanges.

At a price of more than US$350,000 for the SS model, the car wasn't going to be anything but exclusive. Early in 1994 Formula One driver, Michael Schumacher, purchased a banana yellow EB 110 Super Sports, giving the company a great deal of publicity. However, by the time the EB110 came to market the North American and European economies were in one of the deepest recessions in decades and operations ceased in September of 1995. A model specific to the United States market called the "Bugatti America" was in the prepatory stages when the company closed. Dauer Racing GmbH of Nuremberg, Germany, bought the semi-finished EB 110 cars in the assembly plant plus the parts inventory through the bankruptcy trustee.