France 2009 Series No. 1 100 YEARS BUGATTI the Origin, Types 4, 5, Reichshoffen Factory (BUGATTI09-1)

BUGATTI 1909–2009: A legend celebrates its 100th anniversary

To understand the fascination with the Bugatti brand, it is worth looking back at the car manufacturer’s 100-year history. Its founder Ettore Bugatti is its pillar. He succeeded in uncompromisingly combining artistic excellence, beauty, luxury and exceptional technical performance in the automobile, the most important innovation of the early 20th century. Although fewer than 8,000 vehicles rolled off the production line at the Molsheim plant in Alsace, a legend was born; a legend that has endured to this day; a legend based on elegance, power, exclusivity, quality and an extraordinary design – this is as true today as it was 100 years ago.

When Ettore Bugatti was born, the era of the automobile was in its infancy. Hundreds of small entrepreneurs built, often by hand, the first motorized cars that were already equipped with internal combustion engines, but that still looked a lot like the stagecoaches of the time. Each trip was a real adventure: the roads were often very unsuitable and petrol was only available in pharmacies. However, in 1916, the introduction of assembly line production at Ford in the USA marked the advent of mass production of automobiles, in order to meet the ever-increasing demand internationally. The names of many legendary engineers from this era have now been forgotten; others, such as Ettore Bugatti, are now part of general knowledge. The history of the automobile is inseparable from the work completed by these automotive pioneers. (source: www.bugatti.com)