Founded by the legendary Ettore Bugatti, the original incarnation of the French automaker ceased operations in 1952 despite comeback attempts under Roland Bugatti and American automotive designer Virgil Exner. Three decades later, a gentleman by the name of Romano Artioli acquired the company and paved the way for the hypercar maker of today.
Encouraged by Ferruccio Lamborghini and one of the fathers of the Miura, the Italian entrepreneur set up a factory in Italy for the EB 110. The precursor of the Veyron and Chiron is pretty rarefied even by hypercar standards because only 139 examples of the breed were produced between 1991 and 1995.
Doug DeMuro had the opportunity of driving one, and it’s full of quirks as you would expect from a mid-engined land missile with a quad-turbocharged V12 lump, six-speed manual transmission, all-wheel drive, and scissor doors. What boggles the mind about the EB 110 is the driving experience, which is assuredly civilized although the cabin is a little tight for a guy like Doug.
From the feedback of the power steering system to how the clutch and transmission feel, the oily bits are nicely calibrated according to DeMuro. The pedal box, however, is tight just like the seating position. What’s more, the 3.5-liter engine sounds good and feels torquey from low in the rev range.
Named after Ettore Bugatti, the EB 110 also celebrates the founder’s 110th birthday if you were curious what the number stands for. The stalks and gauges may seem familiar, and that’s no coincidence because Lamborghini used the same OE supplier. The same applies to a few buttons and switches, but the interior still feels very special for a supercar from the early 1990s.
At the end of the day, it’s outright impossible to imagine the Veyron and Chiron without the EB 110. Even though Romano Artioli had to liquidate Bugatti over financial difficulties, this chapter in the French marque’s history inspired Volkswagen to shoot for the sky with the Veyron 16.4 in 2005.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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