Bugatti Royale
The Bugatti Type 41, better known as the Royale, is a large luxury car built by Bugatti from 1927 to 1933, With a 4.3 m (169.3 in) wheelbase and 6.4 m (21 ft) overall length, it weighs approximately 3,175 kg (7,000 lb) and uses a 12.763 litre (778 cu in) straight-eight engine. For comparison, against the Rolls-Royce Phantom VII (produced from 2003 to 2017), the Royale is about 20% longer, and more than 25% heavier. This makes the Royale one of the largest cars in the world. Furthermore, with the limited production run and the premium nature of the vehicle, it is also both one of the rarest and most expensive.
| Bugatti Type 41 | |
|---|---|
Coupé Napoléon | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Bugatti |
| Also called | Bugatti Royale |
| Production | 1927–1933 7 produced, 1 destroyed |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Luxury car |
| Body style | Berline, coupé, cabriolet, roadster, brougham, coupé de ville |
| Layout | Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 12,763 cc (12.8 L; 778.8 cu in) straight-8 |
| Transmission | 3-speed manual |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | ~4.3 m (169.3 in) |
| Length | ~6.4 m (252.0 in) |
| Width | ~2.0955 m (82.5 in) |
| Curb weight | ~3,175 kg (7,000 lb) |
Ettore Bugatti planned to build twenty-five of these cars and sell them to royalty as the most luxurious car ever, but even European royalty were not buying such things during the Great Depression, and Bugatti was able to sell only three of the seven made (six still exist, one was destroyed in a wreck). Still, the leftover engines were re-used successfully in newly constructed high-speed railcars for the French National Railway (SNCF).
When the Royale went to the market in the 1980s, it sold for the price of more than 6 Ferrari 250 GTOs.