Bugatti, 30 years of the blue factory in Campogalliano

On Sunday 13th a unique event, to be followed in live streaming, will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment wanted by Romano Artioli

It is known worldwide as the “Blue Factory”, the Bugatti factory inaugurated on 15 September 1990 – exactly 109 years after the birth of Ettore Bugatti – by the then visionary president of Bugatti Automobili SpA Romano Artioli. The anniversary of this great entrepreneurial dream that made one of the most prestigious automotive brands in the world resurrect thirty years ago, will be celebrated on Sunday 13 September, in the presence of over two hundred enthusiasts: together with Romano Artioli, “his” Bugatti Eb110 produced between 1991 and 1995, while from the current Bugatti Automobiles of Molsheim (now owned by the Volkswagen group) will arrive the latest supercars of the French house with the president Stephan Winkelmann.

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CUTTING-EDGE BUGATTI

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A special day to tell a unique story of industrial courage that began in 1987, when Romano Artioli, a Bolzano native of Mantua born in 1932, decided to take over the brand and relaunch it thanks to the skills of the best engineers, architects and craftsmen of the Motor Valley. And what better place than Campogalliano, in the province of Modena, to build the new plant, close to the Brenner motorway and not far from the Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati factories. Developed on a total area of ​​240,000 square meters and designed by the architect Giampaolo Benedini – who will also be the designer of the EB110 – the factory was completed in three years, becoming the most modern and avant-garde of the time in terms of design and infrastructure. From the outside the building is unmistakable for its blue color, white pipes and large Bugatti logo. One of the main features remains the light that invades the space and the main room, designed to reflect the colors of the brand with important materials such as crystal, steel, and Carrara marble; the windows allowed natural light to be maintained to facilitate the work of the employees, while the showroom was inside a cylindrical building with a diameter of 30 meters with nothing in the center.

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THE BUGATTI EB 110 IN CAMPOGALLIANO

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From that “Blue Factory” of dreams comes the Bugatti EB 110, presented on 14 September 1991 in Paris and the following day in Molsheim, home of the first Bugatti workshop. The presentation date is not accidental: on 15 September 1991 Ettore Bugatti would have turned 110 years old , and hence the name of the car EB 110 GT (Ettore Bugatti, 110 years old, Gran Turismo). The model marks the passing of the baton of technical director from Paolo Stanzani to Nicola Materazzi, and the change of the style of Marcello Gandini with that of Giampaolo Benedini. A car that had nothing to envy to the super sports cars Lamborghini Diablo or Ferrari F40, indeed it was at the top for performance and technology with its V12 3.5 quadriturbo in aluminum and magnesium alloy, and the 610 Hp that allowed it to shoot from 0 to 100 km / h in 3.3 seconds and reach 350 km / h top speed. The EB 110 immediately began to collect world records as the fastest production car in the world, a car with the fastest acceleration from 0 to 100, and the one with the fastest top speed for a gasoline series sports car. But the crisis in the sector in the early 90s and the drop in demand shattered Romano Artioli’s dream, and after less than five years the factory closed, with 96 Bugatti EB110 GTs and 32 Bugatti EB110 Super Sport coming off the Campogalliano lines. In 1998 the brand was bought back by the Volkswagen group which christened the new Bugatti Automobiles, with the production site brought back to Molsheim in France.

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LIVE EVENT

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The event of the celebrations, which provides for the opening of the gates of the Campogalliano plant at 10.00, is already “sold out” but can be followed in live streaming on social networks @Bugattiautomobilicampogalliano. “It will be a unique and spectacular event – explain Ezio and Enrico Pavesi, custodians and curators of the factory since its birth, and organizers of the event together with the cultural association” Via Modena “- which, in addition to involving the external areas of the plant, will bring guests within the assembly line, the most avant-garde could exist at the time, already built in 1987 with the technique of cross beams. And, today as then, the Automobile Museum of San Martino in Rio, a historical museum of the province of Reggio Emilia, and the Scuderia San Martino, with the very rare Zedel DB from 1908 ex Regina Margherita, the Ansaldo 4H of ’27 and an Italian Eagle of 1910. “After thirty years we will return to greet the Blue Factory with our cars saying Hello Bug- says Roberto Vellani president of the Scuderia San Martino- and we hope that in the future this magnificent plant can serve the whole world of historic motorsport “.

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