The earliest Bugatti on display was this tiny Type 10 prototype, built by Ettore Bugatti for himself in his spare time between 1907 and 1909, while in the employ of the Deutz company in Cologne, Germany. He was disgusted by the heavy vehicles Deutz forced him to design, so he conceived this aluminum-bodied 810-pound 10-horsepower car capable of 55 mph. He dubbed it “le Petit Pur-Sang,” or little thoroughbred. When he left the company, he drove it to Molsheim, France, where this car helped him secure financial backing to start his own company. The rest is history.
Leave a Reply