Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti

Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti (15 September 1881, Milan – 21 August 1947, Paris) was an Italian-born French designer and industrialist.

He came from a renowned Milanese artistic family. He was the eldest son of Carlo Bugatti (1856–1940), an Art Nouveau cabinetmaker and jewellery designer, and Teresa Lorioli. His younger brother Rembrandt (1884–1916) was a celebrated animal sculptor; his aunt Luigia was married to painter Giovanni Segantini; his paternal grandfather Giovanni Luigi was a noted sculptor and architect.

Before founding his own company, Ettore designed engines and vehicles for other firms. In 1898, Prinetti & Stucchi produced his first car, the Type 1. From 1902 to 1904, Dietrich made the Type 3/4 and Type 5/6/7 as Dietrich-Bugatti models. In 1907, he joined Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik and developed the Type 8/9.

In his spare time, he designed the Type 2 in 1900–1901 and the Type 5 in 1903. While at Deutz, he built the Type 10 in his home’s basement. In 1913, he designed the small Type 19 Bébé for Peugeot.

Although born in Italy, he founded his namesake company in Molsheim, Alsace. It became known for advanced premium cars and early motorsport success: a Bugatti won the first Monaco Grand Prix.

After leaving his Alsatian home during the First World War, he designed aircraft engines, notably the somewhat baroque sixteen-cylinder U-16, produced in small numbers and installed in only a few aircraft. Between the wars, he also developed the successful Autorail railcar and the Model 100 aircraft, which never flew. On 11 August 1939, his thirty-year-old son Jean died while testing a Bugatti 57 racing car near the Molsheim factory. The company’s fortunes subsequently declined. During the Second World War, the factory was destroyed and the company lost control of its property. Nevertheless, Ettore planned a new factory in Levallois near Paris and several new models.

His approach to customers was eccentric. Owners complaining about difficult cold-morning starts were told: “Sir! If you can afford a Type 35, surely you can afford a heated garage!”

Bugatti was buried in the municipal cemetery at Dorlisheim near Molsheim, in Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France.