Brian Sewell was right to question (The Independent,
6 April 2004) the attempt to resuscitate the revered name of Bugatti
in the 21st century. Surely the untimely end of Ettore Bugatti in
1947 aged 66, and of his son Jean, killed testing new Bugattis in
1939 is enough pretext upon which to close the file on a brilliant
chapter of automotive history. One could buy Bugatti blue pullovers
in Kensington Church Street in the 1980s, which was acceptable.
But then, in 1932, there was the Type 55.
This ‘little creature’ in Sewell’s words, was a mere 13 feet long,
a minimal Bugatti. Let us close the story even more firmly, with
the Type 57 Galibier Paris Show Bugatti, of 1939, consigning this
embarrassing piece of badge engineering to the bin where it belongs,
with its absurd Veyron nomenclatura. It stands under the auspices
of Volkswagen. Skoda would have handled the relaunch better, given
the revival of their ‘Superb’ saloon name from the 1930s. And they
are still making their own brand. Don’t spoil our Bugatti dreams.
