Bugatti Type 41 "Royale"
After overhearing a woman say that Bugatti's couldn't compare to Rolls Royce, Ettore Bugatti set out to build the biggest, most luxurious, and impressive automobiles ever using a massive 12.7 liter, 300 hp inline 8 cylinder engine (one half of a 16 cylinder developed for airplanes) and with a wheel base over 15 foot, the scale of the cars was truly massive. Six were built between 1929 - 1933 at $30,000 for the chassis alone, only three were sold. Ettore was notoriously picky about who he'd sell them to and even refused to sell one to King Zog of Albania, claiming that "the man's table manners are beyond belief!"
41100 - Coupé Napoleon
The first Royale, and Ettore Bugatti's personal car. It originally had a Packard body. The body was changed several times and after Ettore fell asleep behind the wheel and crashed, it was rebuilt as it is today.
41111 - Coupé de ville Binder
Originally a two seat roadster with a dickey seat and no headlights designed by Ettore's son, Jean. It was purchased by the French politician Paternotre and the car was rebodied in the Coupé de ville style by the coach builder Henri Binder. During the Nazi occupation of France, it was hidden away in the sewers of Paris. Now owned by Volkswagen and used for promotion.
41121 - Cabriolet Weinberger
Sold in 1932 to German obstetrician Josef Fuchs who fled the political uprising in Germany taking the car with him. The engine froze one winter and cracked the block. In 1946 Charles Chayne, later vice-president of Corporate Engineering at General Motors, found the car in a scrap yard, purchased it for $400 and restored it, with a few hot-rodding touches like a 4 carb setup replacing the single carb. Other than a repaint from black to ivory with green trim, the car still wears it's original coachwork by Ludwig Weinberger. Chayne donated the car to the Henry Ford Museum.
41131 - Limousine Park-Ward
Part of the Fritz Schlumpf (more on him later) collection, the car now resides in the Musée National de l'Automobile de Mulhouse, alongside 41100
41141 - Kellner car
41150 - Berline de Voyage
These two cars were unsold and were bricked up behind a wall along with 41100 - Coupé Napoleon during World War II at the home of the Bugatti family in Ermenonville, to avoid being commandeered by the Nazis. In 1950 American race car driver Briggs Cunningham purchased 41141 and 41150 for FR₣200,000, ($571 US) plus a pair of new General Electric refrigerators, then unavailable in post-war France. Restoration costs would bring the total cost up to about 1 million Francs, or $2,858 US, per car. Cunningham sold 41150 Cameron Peck in early 1952 for about $6,500. Currently 41150 is part of the Blackhawk Collection in Danville, California. As for 41141, the current owner is unknown. At one time it was the most expensive collector car ever sold. The last known owner was Japanese conglomerate the Meitec Corporation who paid $15.7 million for it in 1990.
"Seventh Of Six"
French textiles magnate Fritz Schlumpf was an obsessive Bugatti collector at one time owning 105, including 18 of Ettore Bugatti's personal cars and much of the tooling and machinery from the Bugatti factory. When textile jobs started moving from France to Asia, the workers revolted and went on strike. The strike turned to riots and at one point the even forced their way into Schlumpf's garage intent on destroying his collection. But they were stunned by the sheer beauty of it and returned to their strike until Schlumpf went bankrupt and the collection was seized by the government who turned it into a museum.
"Seven Of Six" cannot be considered an actual Type 41, nor can it be considered a replica because the car was built using parts and tooling from the Bugatti factory. At best it should be considered an unauthorized "continuation" of the Bugatti Type 41.
"Seven Of Six" wears replicated coach work of the two seat roadster designed by Jean Bugatti once featured on 41111. the car still resides in the Musée National de l'Automobile de Mulhouse, alongside 41100 and 41131
