1994 Bugatti EB 110

In 1989 Italian industrialist Romano Artioli acquired the Bugatti name and constructed a facility in Italy to produce a mid-engine supercar. It was called the EB110 after the founder of the marque, Ettore Bugatti, who was born 110 years before the model’s 1991 debut. Its 3.5-liter aluminum and titanium V-12 engine was fitted with four small turbochargers. Top speed of the 552-horsepower car was over 210 miles per hour. Unfortunately, production of the EB110 coincided with a dramatic decline in the supercar market during the 1990s and just 126 were produced. The Bugatti factory was later closed and the name sold to Volkswagen.

This is an all-Italian supercar first unveiled in 1991 to celebrate the 110th birthday of Ettore Bugatti. The Bugatti brand rights were released by the French government and and the storied company re-launched by outspoken Italian auto dealer Romano Artioli, who also owned the Lotus brand for a period in the mid-1990s (the Lotus Elise is named for Artioli’s daughter). Despite quad-turbocharged V-12, 4wd, 212.5 m.p.h. top speed, the car was launched at a time of global economic recession and only 139 sold, so Bugatti was bankrupt by 1995, and the rights sold to the VW group in 1998. The engine produced 550 h.p., which bested the single-turbo Ferrari F40 by more than 75 horsepower. The original price for EB-110 was $300,000 (vs. $399,150 for the F40).

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