Designed at the height of the prewar age by Etorre Bugatti to be the most splendid car ever created, the Type 41 was definitely a mammoth of a machine particularly intended to compete with the Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, Delahayes and Hispano-Suizas of the day. And boy, did it. Off course records are made to be broken, at various points over the last 80 or so years, Bugatti Royale has been the biggest, baddest (with the biggest engine) and most expensive car ever created.
The most popular Royale of all, no doubt the Double Berline de Voyage, had at least 10 owners which includes Bill Harrah, Briggs Cunningham and Tom Monaghan of Domino’s Pizza. Chassis #41 150 does sport by far the best old school body work and is the 2nd oldest of all the Royales. It may be currently residing in Korea.
Bugatti’s Royale (Type 41) is the most massive production car ever built. The Cadillac Fleetwood (1976), what most people think of when they think of longest car, had a wheelbase of 157.5 inches. The Royale? 169 inches. At about 236in long, the Bugatti is as a matter of fact 3 inches longer than the Caddilac, however it weighs near about 3,000 pounds more, for a huge total of 7,500 lbs. The gigantic drum brakes are 18 inches in diameter and the “Roue Royale” wheels are honest to goodness 24″s, the largest ever made to fit to a production car. Of course, the one of a kind 12,763cc straight-8 is the biggest engine among all (production) cars. Ever.
