Bugatti T101C-X - Death is hard to survive

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Bugatti T101C-X - Death is hard to survive

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Created in 2021

Text:

Karl Ludvigsen (Übersetzung Paul Krüger)

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

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Virgil Exner, Jr. / Ludvigsen Partners

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Virgil Exner, Jr.

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Ludvigsen Partners

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Bonhams

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Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

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RM Auction Darin Schnabel

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Dodge Public Relations

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Mike Maez - Courtesy Gooding & Co

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RM Auctions

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Archiv

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - The Bugatti is one of two real-life designs from Virgil Exner's series of seven "Revival Cars"

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - Despite all its scurrility, the Exner-Bugatti is elegant in its own way

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - The positive camber of the front wheels and the narrow tires reveal the thirties chassis

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - At the Concours d'Elegance in Pebble Beach 2017

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - The prototype is roadworthy. The coat of arms of coachbuilder Ghia on the front fender

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - From this perspective, the Exner-Bugatti is very similar to the Dual-Ghia, which was also based on an Exner design

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - The Exner-Bugatti also bears a certain resemblance to the Turbot-Rhino I from Spirou and Fantasio

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - Rectangular headlights were still exotic in the mid-sixties. Photographed in South Bend, Indiana, on the occasion of the premiere of the book "Virgil Exner - Visioneer" by Peter Grist

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - The Exner-Bugatti's eight-cylinder engine produces 190 hp thanks to the Roots blower. Two spring-loaded openers keep the hood open

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - The windshield sits extremely far forward. Right-hand drive was still common for sporty cars in the thirties

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - The padded bead on the passenger side offers a touch of passive safety. Also noteworthy are the "gearshifts" for opening the rear-hinged doors

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - The cockpit designed by Virgil Exner Jr. could also belong to a motorboat

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - Saves time and material: only the left half of the 1:8 model exists. It leans against a mirror

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - 1:8 scale model with golden spoked wheels, external exhaust pipes and circular tail lights

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - design sketch, dated January 1965

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Virgil Exner (1953) - Illustration from a Chrysler advertising brochure

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - Photographed on October 19, 1965, before its official presentation. The lady on the hood doesn't seem to be very enthusiastic about her seat

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - Chassis no. 101506 with whitewall tires

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - Chassis no. 101506 in 1958 in Molsheim. It was not given a body until seven years later

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Bugatti T101C-X (1965) - The 3.3-liter in-line eight-cylinder engine delivers 135 hp without a Roots blower

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Jean Bugatti (1928) - Behind him, the Bugatti 41 prototype chassis number 100 with its third body as a four-door "Berline de Voyage" ("touring saloon")

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Bugatti T101 Coupé Gangloff (1951) - The Gangloff Coupé was still based on a T57 chassis. Here it stands at the 1952 Paris Motor Show next to a T101 Cabriolet, also with Gangloff bodywork

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Bugatti T101 Antem (1951) - The Antem coupé was the first "real" Bugatti T101

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Bugatti 29/30 (1923) - Five of them started in Indianapolis in 1923, one finished the race

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Bugatti T73A (1947) - Planned as a new beginning after the war, then discarded.

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Chrysler Ghia Special (1953) - One of Virgil Exner's "Idea Cars" for Chrysler

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Chrysler Ghia Special (1953) - Only 18 examples of the elegant coupé were built in Turin. Under the hood: the FirePower Hemi V8 with 180 hp

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Chrysler D'Elegance (1953) - Looks a bit like a big, dissatisfied VW Karmann-Ghia

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Plymouth Fury (1957) - Exner's new "Forward Look" made the competition look old

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Studebaker Champion (1948) - Not by Raymond Loewy but by Virgil Exner

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Dodge Dart (1962) - The "plucked chicken" that cost Exner his job

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Duesenberg Model D - Exner's vision of a new luxury model for the sixties

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Duesenberg Model D (1966) - The revival fails, the Model D remains a one-off

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Summary

In the mid-sixties, former Chrysler chief stylist Virgil Exner wanted to revive the Bugatti brand, but he came up with the idea 25 years too early. His pretty and ugly one-off became the last completed Bugatti of the classic era.

This article contains the following chapters

Old wine in new bottles
Five horseshoes in the oval
Ex to the C
Independence with the son
Exner buys half a Bugatti
Designed in Michigan, built in Turin
Premiere in Turin

Estimated reading time: 10min

Preview (beginning of the article)

After the Second World War, Bugatti faced an uncertain future. The death of company founder Ettore was less than two months away when the doors of the 34th "Salon de l'Automobile" opened in Paris on October 23, 1947. There, Bugatti presented the engine and chassis of the new four-cylinder Type 73 model as well as a derived dohc racing engine with a displacement of 1.5 liters, which had been secretly developed in Molsheim during the German occupation. However, the planned series production did not take place. Although Ettore's son Roland (his older brother Jean had been killed in a test drive accident in 1939) was the official head of Bugatti, after the death of the patron, the former racing driver Pierre Marco, who had already worked for Ettore for 30 years, initially managed the business in Molsheim. Under his management, Bugatti focused more on maintaining and repairing the Bugatti automobiles already in production and on servicing the Bugatti railcars, which were to remain in operation in France until 1958. He initiated the construction of a new model based on the successful Type 57 for the intended new start in car manufacturing.

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