Wealthy entrepreneur Romano Artioli revived the Bugatti name in 1991 with and named the new car in honor of Ettore Bugatti’s 110th birthday. At the time is was the most exotic supercar available on the market. With talent from Italy, Artioli made sure the performance potential and specification was far beyond that available from Ferrari, Lamborghini or Porsche.
Having a successful Ferrari dealership, Artioli sourced almost all of his talent from Italy and the car was built in Campogalliano near Modena, Italy. Designer Marcello Gandini was brought on board, probably because of the excellent work he did on the Lamborghini Miura and Countach. Furthermore much of the drive-line and systems were designed by former Lamborghini engineers.
The project began in 1987 with a silver styling buck that was completed in 1988. This laid out Gandini’s basic shape which included flip-up doors from his Countach. Leading up to the first pre-production prototype in 1991, several aluminum-chassis cars were used to test the new engine.
Technical Director Paolo Stanzani was responsible for the new engine which had many exotic features including 4 IHI Turbochargers and 5-valves per cylinder and a complex AWD system. Furthermore, the chassis was sourced from Aerospatiale France and made out of carbon fiber.
After five years of planning and testing, Bugatti launched the first EB110 in Paris, at the Place de la Défense. Around 125 to 150 cars were made and around 30 of those were built to SS specification.
| type | Series Production Car |
| production years | 1991 – 1995 |
| built at | Campogalliano, Italy |
| body stylist | Marcello Gandini |
| coachbuilder | Aerospatiale France |
| production | 100 |
| price $ | $ 350,000 |
| engine | 60o V12 |
| position | Mid, Longitudinal |
| aspiration | 4 IHI Turbochargers |
| valvetrain | DOHC, 5 Valves / Cyl |
| fuel feed | Bugatti Multipoint Electronic Enjection |
| displacement | 3500 cc / 213.6 in³ |
| bore | 81.0 mm / 3.19 in |
| stroke | 56.6 mm / 2.23 in |
| compression | 8.0:1 |
| power | 412 kw / 552.5 bhp @ 8000 rpm |
| specific output | 157.86 bhp per litre |
| bhp/weight | 309.18 bhp per tonne |
| torque | 611 nm / 450.6 ft lbs @ 3750 rpm |
| redline | 8500 |
| body / frame | Aluminium Body Carbon Fibre Tub Chassis w/Integrated Roll Cage |
| driven wheels | AWD |
| wheel type | BBS Forged Aluminum |
| front tires | 245/40ZR-18 Michelin Pilot SX MXX3 |
| rear tires | 325/30ZR-18 Michelin Pilot SX MXX3 |
| front brakes | Ventilated Discs w/4-Piston Floating Calipers, Vacuum Assist, ABS |
| rear brakes | Ventilated Discs w/4-Piston Floating Calipers, Vacuum Assist, ABS |
| front wheels | F 45.7 x 22.9 cm / 18.0 x 9.0 in |
| rear wheels | R 45.7 x 30.5 cm / 18.0 x 12.0 in |
| steering | Rack & Pinion w/ Power Assist |
| f suspension | Double Wishbones w/Pull-Road Actuated Spring/Damper Units |
| r suspension | Double Wishbones w/Double Coil Springs, Damper Units |
| curb weight | 1787 kg / 3940 lbs |
| wheelbase | 2550 mm / 100.4 in |
| front track | 1549 mm / 61.0 in |
| rear track | 1618 mm / 63.7 in |
| length | 4399 mm / 173.2 in |
| width | 1941 mm / 76.4 in |
| height | 1115 mm / 43.9 in |
| transmission | 6-Speed Manual |
| gear ratios | 3.76:1, 2.52:1, 1.83:1, 1.42:1, 1.15:1, 0.95:1 |
| top speed | ~342 kph / 212.38 mph |
| 0 – 60 mph | ~3.4 seconds |
| 0 – 100 mph | ~9.1 seconds |
| 0 – 1/4 mile | ~12.5 seconds |
| 0 – 100 kph | ~3.46 seconds |
| fuel capacity | 120 litres |
