From the archives of Bob Montgomery
Bugatti's Golden Years: With the end of World War I, and after a visit to his home and factory at Molsheim - now once again under French control - Ettore Bugatti took the decision to re-establish Bugatti production.
With no desire for the sort of mass-production now being undertaken by the likes of Citroën and Renault, Bugatti once again saw racing as the way to re-establish his cars in the public's mind. In 1914, three racing cars had been disassembled and buried in the factory grounds while two others had been hidden in Milan.
The buried cars were dug up and re-assembled and together with the cars hidden in Milan were race-prepared. Now six years old, these cars were entered for the only French race of 1920, the Voiturette Grand Prix at Le Mans. Under the personal supervision of Bugatti himself his cars placed first, second and fourth at the end of the first lap of the race. At half distance Bugatti's were in the first three places but in a pitstop the lead Bugatti was disqualified when Bugatti placed a hand on a petrol filler cap which was undone. No outside assistance was allowed and so disqualification was instant. Nevertheless, at the finish, Freiderich was the winner in a Bugatti, some twenty minutes ahead of the next car!
This victory marked the beginning of a golden age of Bugatti racing cars, soon to be spearheaded by the introduction of a small straight-eight racing engine in 1921. After 1925, Ettore Bugatti gave less attention to the running of racing cars, instead devoting himself to their design and building while leaving the racing to others.
During the years between 1925 and 1938 there was not a single important race in Europe which the blue cars did not win and their success in the hands of private owners was unequalled by any other make. At the same time Bugatti's road cars were the toast of motoring enthusiasts everywhere. By 1935 some 1,200 men were employed at the Molsheim factory but in 1936 the industrial unrest then gripping Europe and most of all, France, spread to the Molsheim factory. Bugatti left Molsheim in the charge of his son Jean and returned to Paris. Never again would he have the day-to-day contact with his beloved factory and his visits there became rare.
In Jean's capable hands, the factory continued to thrive and the racing team, now employing such drivers as Robert Benoist and Grover Williams, went from success to success. In these years, Bugatti was producing some of it's most famous models, including the Type 57 and Type 43, but then on August 11th 1939 occurred the event which was to change Bugatti forever.
Close to the factory was a road circuit used for testing the racing cars. When in use, men were posted at any point where someone could enter the circuit. A local postman refused to halt at one of these points and was warned that a car was on the circuit. A few minutes later, Jean Bugatti arrived at full speed to find the man in his path. In avoiding him, Jean crashed and was killed instantly.
Within a few short weeks of Jean's death, Europe was swept into war and in June 1940 the German invasion of France changed all once again when the factory was occupied.