Bugatti EB110 1991

The 1991 Bugatti EB110 Base marked Bugatti’s return under Italian entrepreneur Romano Artioli, who acquired the rights to the brand in 1987 and created Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. Unveiled on 15 September 1991, the 110th anniversary of Ettore Bugatti’s birth, it introduced the new EB110 era with an unusually advanced technical package for its time. The Base version represents the original form of the model, before later higher-output derivatives arrived. It combined a 3.5-litre quad-turbo V12, a carbon-fibre monocoque chassis, and all-wheel drive, all wrapped in an aerodynamically clean body signed by Marcello Gandini and Giampaolo Benedini.

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History

In 1987, Romano Artioli acquired the rights to the Bugatti name and founded Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. with the aim of bringing the marque back with a highly ambitious super-sports car. To achieve that goal, he assembled a team of well-known engineers and designers to create something technically advanced and visually distinctive. Their work produced the EB110, revealed on 15 September 1991, exactly 110 years after Ettore Bugatti’s birth. The launch highlighted a remarkably sophisticated package for the period, centred on a 3.5-litre quad-turbo V12, a carbon-fibre monocoque chassis, and all-wheel drive.

Within that story, the 1991 Base version is the starting point for the EB110 line. It establishes the model’s core identity before the later derivatives broaden the range. Its clean, aerodynamic bodywork, designed by Marcello Gandini and Giampaolo Benedini, matches the mechanical concept by prioritising efficiency and high-speed stability.

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Evolution

The 1991 Base version is the original configuration of the Bugatti EB110. It comes before the GT and Super Sport derivatives, which later expanded the range around the same basic concept. The dossier does not provide Base-specific distinctions, but it clearly places this version as the starting reference for the model line. Its historical importance therefore lies in its role at the beginning of the EB110 story rather than in separate features of its own.

Compared with later variants, the Base belongs to the first stage of the EB110 programme. Subsequent development focused on power, weight, and aerodynamics, while the carbon-fibre monocoque and all-wheel-drive layout remained central shared elements. As a result, the Base stands as the technical and stylistic foundation of the EB110.

Variants

Within the EB110 range, the 1991 Base model is the launch specification around which the GT and Super Sport variants were later developed. The GT, also introduced in 1991, used the 3.5-litre V12 and produced 560 horsepower. The Super Sport, launched in 1992, increased output to 611 horsepower and added aerodynamic changes as well as weight reduction through carbon-fibre body panels.

The Base is not described in the dossier with the same level of detail, but it shares the key structural elements of the project: the carbon-fibre monocoque chassis and all-wheel drive. It therefore acts as the template for the later versions, while the GT and SS represent more focused interpretations of the same underlying car, one retaining the original formula and the other pushing further toward outright performance.