Joseph Figoni BUGATTI

Brace yourself for the fascinating story about how the Carrosserie Joseph Figoni worked closely with Bugatti in Paris in the 1920s, as well as the first showings of Figoni coachwork at the Paris Salons and concours d’élégance. It is an absorbing account of how French luxury cars were built, sold and marketed in the City of Light before the tsunami of the Great Depression. Who the movers and shakers were, and the conflicts that arose when business interests clashed. Also explored is the Bugatti sales empire built by businessman Étienne Bunau-Varilla, an empire that for some crucial years regarded the Carrosserie Joseph Figoni as a favored coachbuilder, thereby putting Figoni on the map as a leading carrossier in Paris. But it was also an enterprise that grew to the point where Ettore Bugatti could no longer live with the power that Bunau-Varilla exerted over the factory in Alsace.

The resulting divorce is described in detail, including how things subsequently fell apart in Paris due to the rickety sales structure which Ettore Bugatti then established. The casualties were many. Not least Joseph Figoni and his coachbuilding operation, as well as a number of his competitors. All copiously illustrated with period images, documentation and brochure material.

Extraordinary source material from the Figoni and Bugatti archives has provided a wealth of new information. As a result, many previously unknown Bugattis have been identified. Many never-before-seen images are included, including engaging and detailed profile renderings by the late Gerrit-Jan Caviët. ​

It is a gripping panorama across three volumes with chassis-by-chassis descriptions of 113 Bugattis that passed through the Figoni works from 1925 to 1939. Born of the jazz age, these were extraordinary cars of a bygone era. Mere months before the outbreak of World War II, Figoni finished the last Bugatti carrosserie, a Type 57 for Lord Cholmondeley. Nothing would ever be the same.