do you know his yellow and black story?

Although Bugatti’s motorsport heritage is most associated with “French Racing Blue”, many of its most stylish cars are painted in founder Ettore Bugatti’s favorite colors: black and yellow. Auto-Journal goes back in time.

For true connoisseurs of the brand, the hypercar painted in black and yellow is not only the embodiment of the famous Bugatti color combination, but also a reference to the founder himself.

Many Ettore Bugatti private cars were painted with this finish, which has continued in popularity over time. The history of the black and yellow Bugatti goes back to when the beams above the old oak doors were painted in Ettore’s favorite colors at the family home in Molsheim.

At the beginning of his career, many of Ettore Bugatti’s private cars were painted only in black. It was only when the design of Bugatti cars moved away from the traditional design of the mainly motorsport oriented Grand Prix models and began to embrace the Art Deco movement that Ettore Bugatti made the two-tone design his favorite color combination.

A timeless combination

After that, countless customers also chose black and yellow colors for their cars. Ettore Bugatti’s famous Type 41 Royale was painted black and yellow. Around the same time, a Type 40 Roadster example was also decorated in the same color as the Type 44. But this was only the beginning of his popularity.

Powered by the Type 51’s 2.3-liter straight-eight engine, the Bugatti Type 55, a motorsport-inspired car, was the most sought-after car of its time, with a two-seater roadster body designed by Jean Bugatti.

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Then, two years after the launch of the Type 55 in 1934, one of the most elegant Bugatti roadsters ever built was completed: the Bugatti Type 57 Grand Raid Factory Roadster. Selected colors? Black and yellow. Even in the modern era of Bugatti, this timeless combination has never been forgotten.

In 2014, the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse “1-to-1” was introduced, painted in black and highlighted with yellow accents on the body, wheels and at the level of the “EB” logos. Inside, yellow stitching adorns black leather, and a sketch of the Veyron is laser-printed on the door panels.

“Molsheim Yellow”

During the Chiron era, the first car to be delivered in North America also sported a combination of yellow and black carbon with yellow painted alloy wheels.

With the introduction of the Chiron Pur Sport in 2020, the black and yellow combination was reinvented for a unique fabric with a vibrant finish called “Yellow Molsheim”.

Achim AnscheidtBugatti Design Director says: “In almost everything we do, we are inspired by the founders, the Bugatti family; like Ettore, we invent our own technologies, and like Jean Bugatti, we push the boundaries of design and elegance to create something unlike anything else on the road.” As Ettore said: “If it can be compared, it is no longer a Bugatti. »

“That’s why the combination of black and yellow remains an important color combination for us as designers and as a brand. Of course, we are always trying to reinvent it – Ettore was never content to rely on tradition for the sake of referencing tradition – but our founder’s favorite colors will always be intertwined with the Bugatti brand. »

Over 135 Bugattis at Mulhouse

Today, many examples of Bugatti decorated in black and yellow are part of the Schlumpf collection, the largest collection of Bugatti cars in the world, on display at the National Automobile Museum in Mulhouse.

Covering an area of ​​more than 25,000 square meters, the exhibition showcases 400 of the world’s rarest, most spectacular and valuable cars, including more than 135 Bugatti models and two of the six Bugatti Type 41 Royale cars ever produced.

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