Photo: Stefan Baldauf
When Ettore Bugatti presented the world with the Type 41 in 1927, the world wasn’t prepared for an automobile like this. Also known as the Royale, this luxury machine is considered by many as a Magnum Opus of the brand, next to the Type 57 Atlantic.
But the Bugatti Type 57 family spawned 710 vehicles, which is 704 more than how many Type 41s were ever made by Ettore’s team. To boot, each Royale has its own nickname: the Coupé Napoleon, Coupé de ville Binder, Cabriolet Weinberger, Limousine Park-Ward, the Kellner car and Berline de Voyage.
Although Ettore intended to make 25 units of the Type 41, he managed to build a mere six because the Great Depression came on the scene. Heck, the company’s founder got to sell only three of the six Royale luxobarges ever made. It’s redundant to talk about how much one of these babies costs these days.
Swiss design house and high-performance replica maker Sbarro made the first Event Royale back in 1979. Have a guess just how much one of these babies was going for back then. Nope, it’s 300,000 Swiss francs, double the price of a 1979 Rolls-Royce Camargue. It may be costly, but you do get a lot of car.
It’s not a carbon copy of the original Type 31 due to some... ahem... 1930s-inspired styling details from Mercedes-Benz, Delahaye, Rolls-Royce and Duesenberg, but wait ’til you hear what’s under the hood - a 7-liter 16-cylinder powerhouse, churning out 400 horsepower.
That's 100 ponies better than the 300 horsepower developed by the original Bugatti Royale's 12.7-liter straight-eight powerplant. However, those OZ wheels look horrid on this type of vehicle, in addition to the Sbarro greyhound which replaces the famous elephant hood ornament of the original Type 41.
Although Ettore intended to make 25 units of the Type 41, he managed to build a mere six because the Great Depression came on the scene. Heck, the company’s founder got to sell only three of the six Royale luxobarges ever made. It’s redundant to talk about how much one of these babies costs these days.
So what can you do if you need a Royale in your life, but you don't have a lot of money? Get a replica!
We saw such a contraption at the Essen Motor Show and it doesn’t disappoint. Stand B104 of hall 11 was beautified by a 1930s-looking Sbarro Event Royale, a 6-meter long, 2.8-ton Bugatti Royale replica. Needless to say, such a car is extremely outlandish to see at a tuning show.Swiss design house and high-performance replica maker Sbarro made the first Event Royale back in 1979. Have a guess just how much one of these babies was going for back then. Nope, it’s 300,000 Swiss francs, double the price of a 1979 Rolls-Royce Camargue. It may be costly, but you do get a lot of car.
It’s not a carbon copy of the original Type 31 due to some... ahem... 1930s-inspired styling details from Mercedes-Benz, Delahaye, Rolls-Royce and Duesenberg, but wait ’til you hear what’s under the hood - a 7-liter 16-cylinder powerhouse, churning out 400 horsepower.
That's 100 ponies better than the 300 horsepower developed by the original Bugatti Royale's 12.7-liter straight-eight powerplant. However, those OZ wheels look horrid on this type of vehicle, in addition to the Sbarro greyhound which replaces the famous elephant hood ornament of the original Type 41.
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