Bugatti Type 41 Royale History

Ettore Bugatti conceived the Royale as the world's greatest luxury automobile, reportedly motivated by a slight from a British aristocrat who had compared his cars unfavourably with Rolls-Royce. The first prototype was completed in 1926 on an extended wheelbase with an even larger 14.7-litre engine; the six production cars used a 12.763-litre (778 cu in) straight-eight producing approximately 275–300 hp, making it one of the largest automobile engines ever fitted to a road car.

At 4.3 metres of wheelbase and 6.4 metres of overall length, the Royale was — and remains — one of the longest automobiles ever built. Each car received individual coachwork by specialist bodybuilders; some examples were rebodied multiple times over their lives. Despite Ettore's plan to sell 25 examples to European royalty and heads of state, the Great Depression made even wealthy buyers cautious and only three of the six production cars were sold during the model's run.

The massive Royale engines found a second life powering French rail cars in the 1930s, a use that proved far more commercially successful than the automobiles themselves. All six surviving Royales are among the most valuable cars in existence.