On hand were all the vehicles that have contributed to the Bugatti legend over its 100-year history, from the company’s founding in 1909 to the current Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport

Bugatti clubs from all over the world helped to organise a comprehensive exhibition bound to please enthusiasts, which culminated in an exquisite Concours d’Elégance. On hand were all the vehicles that have contributed to the Bugatti legend over its 100-year history, from the company’s founding in 1909 to the current Veyron Grand Sport.

This included vehicles such as the “Brescia”, the Type 35, whose numerous race track victories made Bugatti a household name across the world, the legendary six Royales from the late 1920s and the Types 57 and 59 designed by Jean Bugatti, which ten years later played another important role in the brand’s story and went down in automobile history as icons.

The Concours began with a selection of pre-World War One cars, among them the small Type 15 Fiacre from 1912, the oldest-surviving closed-body Bugatti, and continued with the legendary Type 18, Chassis 471, Ettore Bugatti’s personal Mont Ventoux race car. Two Royales and three of the most original Bugatti Grand Prix cars – one of them the winner of the first Monaco Grand Prix in 1929 – represented the period up to World War Two.

Of course, the general overview would not be complete without the Bugatti EB 110 and the prototype EB112 from the epoch between 1987 and 1995, during which the Italian businessman Romano Artioli attempted – unfortunately in vain – to revive the company that was forced to bring its activities to a halt in 1956.

When speaking of Bugatti, it is also important to remember the entire family’s significance in the artistic community. More an artist than an engineer, Ettore Bugatti came from a family that attained worldwide acclaim for its artistic prowess. His father Carlo was a well-known furniture designer and his brother Rembrandt a talented sculptor whose wildlife pieces are traded at premium prices today. Selected works by both men were on display in a special exhibition in the chateau. The exhibition included exquisite individual pieces that had returned to Molsheim for the first time.