History Through Model Cars: Bugatti Royale

Between 1927 and 1933, Ettore Bugatti and his son Jean Bugatti built 7 examples of the Bugatti Type 41, better known as the Bugatti Royale. This car is known as one of the most expensive collector’s cars in the history of the automobile. With the Bugatti Royale, they wanted to dominate the world of luxury cars.

Ettore Bugatti’s adage “Nothing’s too good, nothing’s too expensive” became famous. Type 41’s were destinated for monarchs, industrial magnates and heads of state. The technical data of this cars speak for themselves: 6.4m long, three tons and performance worthy of a sports car. The engine had a displacement of 12.7l, weighed 350kg without accessories, consumed up to 60l/100km and had a top speed of over 200km/h.

You could buy a chassis with engine and no bodywork for 500,000francs, or for 660,000francs with a Bugatti body, a Rolls Royce costs 3 times less at that time. Ettore wanted to produce 25 examples, but due to the Great Depression of 1929, it was a commercial failure. Of the first six models built, three were sold and three remained unsold at the factory. One of the unsold cars was the Coupé du Patron or Coupé Napoléon, which Ettore himself used for the rest of his life.

From 1932 to 1939, the Royale’s engines were used to power the Bugatti 88 railcar, which was powered by four engines. Here are the six chassis numbers:

VIN 41.100 First model the Prototype

1926 Torpedo with body recovered from a Packard known as the “Coupé du Patron”

1928 Coupé Fiacre

1928 Weymann 4-door came not long after the Fiacre Coupé
1928 Hippomobile-style sedan (I don’t own it)

1929 Coach Weymann destroyed in an accident by Ettore Bugatti
2011 Torpedo, the model was rebuilt from the original chassis as the original body in 1926 and presented at the “Mondorf les Bains Concours d’Elégance & Luxembourg Classic Days 2017″(I don’t own it)

1931 Coupé de Ville on a new and shorter chassis also named Coupé Napoléon with the same VIN 41.100

VIN 41.111 Bugatti Royale Roadster Esders then Coupé de Ville Binder

VIN 41.121 Bugatti Royale Cabriolet Weinberger (2 different bodies)
VIN 41131 Bugatti Limousine Park-Ward, this limousine was bodied in England by Park Ward, and is exhibited with the Schlumpf collection at the Cité de l’Automobile in Mulhouse (I don’t own it)

VIN 41.141 Bugatti Royale Coach Kellner was the fifth car built and remained unsold. The Bugatti family kept and used it.
VIN 41.150 Bugatti Royale Berline de Voyage which is the sixth car built, also unsold and kept by the Bugatti family

                                                                                       (I don’t own it, yet)

The first prototype, which had been missing for a long time, was originally rebuilt and completed in 2017. The Schlumpf brothers assembled a model in the 1960s from original parts, and a replica exists in Germany. Three models by the Schlumpf brothers are on display at “La Cité de l’automobile de Mulhouse “VIN 41.100, 41.131, replica 41.111. VIN 41.111 is owned by the Bugatti factory in Molsheim, VIN 41.150 is on display at the”Blackhawk Automotive Museum “in California, VIN 41.121 is on display at “The Henry Ford Museum” in Detroit, VIN 41.141 Coach Kellner belongs to an unknown private owner, VIN 41.100 replica is on display at the “Automotive and Technology Museum” in Sinsheim, Germany.