Bugatti
Recognised by any motoring aficionado as the absolute pinnacle of luxurious branding, Bugatti is up there with the fashion houses of Versace and Gucci in terms of desirability and exclusivity.
Originally German, with French overtures soon after, Bugatti was founded by namesake, Ettore back in 1909, before being sold to another historic heavyweight, Hispano-Suiza in 1963.
According to Bugatti’s founding principles, ‘weight was considered the enemy’. Whereas the aesthetic was pretty much everything else and then some.
An enduring ethos that Volkswagen physically and emotionally bought into and perpetuated, when it acquired 100% ownership and naming rights to Bugatti in 1998.
What followed, re-wrote the supercar rule books, in the shape and form of the Bugatti Veyron. VW’s loss-leading icon, which single-handedly invented the concept of the hypercar, nevermind the re-badging of the supercar sector.
