Headquarters: Molsheim, France
Established: 1909
Founder(s): Ettore Bugatti

Bugatti, a manufacturer of legendary high performance vehicles, was founded in 1909 in Molsheim, France by Ettore Bugatti, an Italian who started designing bicycles and vehicle models when he was just 17 years old. In that year, Bugatti secured a bank loan that allowed him to build ten automobiles and five aircraft engines. The first five cars were delivered in 1910. During the difficult years of the Great Depression, Bugatti won the contract to build a new high speed train for the French government.

The only Bugatti automobile model that was still being produced at the beginning of the 1930s was the Model 57. This sedan was Bugatti's last big production success, with about 750 units produced and sold. The company attempted several comebacks in the 1950s and 1960s, but nothing stuck until Italian entrepreneur Romano Artioli acquired the Bugatti name in 1987, and produced the Bugatti EB110, which was advertised as the most technically advanced sports car ever produced. In 2000, Volkswagen founded Bugatti Automobiles SAS and introduced the EB 16/4 Veyron Concept, a 16-cylinder, 1001 horsepower turbocharged car that can go from 0-62 mph in an eye-opening 2.5 seconds.