Sep 25

Jean Bugatti and the Type 41 Royale

One of my favorite photos ever. Here Jean Bugatti stands beside a Type 41 Royale, the extraordinary machine created by his father, Ettore Bugatti. At more than 21 feet long and powered by a massive 12.7 liter straight eight, the Royale was built to be one of the largest and most luxurious automobiles of its time. Jean also designed the sweeping roadster body seen here for French clothing manufacturer Armand Esders.

Sep 25, 2026

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Replies (3)

· Sep 26

I believe Armand Esders was in the clothing business and inherited a bunch of money and made more. He had a high sense of fashion. This is actually the second body on that chassis and it currently has a 3rd with the roadster gone. There are 2 replicas of the roadster. Note Mr. Esders did not like headlights.

Here is the Phantom II RR he ordered also without headlights. It has been for sale for a while.

· Sep 26

One of the replicas is in the Schrumph Museum in France. Other is in the Netherlands?

· Sep 26

Beautiful! Size is hard to comprehend unless you go the Henry Ford and stand next to theirs.