The Bugatti EB 110 is a mid-engine sports car initially conceived by Ing. Paolo Stanzani in the mid 1980s and produced by Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. from 1991 until 1995, when the company was liquidated. The model restarted the brand's presence in the automobile industry after a hiatus of nearly 40 years (since 1952).
In the period from 1992 to 1995 the EB 110 competed against cars such as the Lamborghini Diablo, Jaguar XJ220, Ferrari F40 and Ferrari F50 (launched 1995) and McLaren F1.
139 examples were built, plus small number of post-production cars which were completed after the bankruptcy. The last one was built by Dauer Sportwagen in 2002 and one additional unfinished example was completed in 2019. It was the only production model made by Romano Artioli's Italian incarnation of Bugatti.
History
Discussions of a new supercar had taken place between Ferruccio Lamborghini and Paolo Stanzani at the end of 1984 during telephone calls and at the Turin Auto Show. Stanzani warned Mr. Lamborghini that developing a new car was increasingly tough financially and that the engine development was a possible task but the bodywork would be resource intensive. He suggested that Nuccio Bertone could provide help with the bodywork design and manufacture. Bertone was involved in early talks for a collaboration on the exterior design but declined to continue the discussions after noting the conflict of interest that the potential majority investor, Autoexpo (and Romano Artioli), had in its distribution contracts of Ferrari cars in Germany. Jean-Marc Borel established the holding companies together with Artioli's lawyer. On 11 May 1987 Autoexpo paid 7,500,00 French Francs to Messier Hispano Bugatti (Snecma Safran Aircraft Engines) for the purchase of the Bugatti brand and on 14 October 1987 Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. was founded.
Stanzani, minority shareholder in Bugatti Automobili was chosen as company Technical Director and sole Managing Director ('Amministratore Unico' in Italian) thanks to his career experience with Lamborghini vehicles including the Miura, Countach, Espada, Urraco, Jarama, Jalpa.