To bring a long-dormant automotive marque back to life is no mean feat; the stakes are even higher when the marque in question is one as hallowed as Bugatti. In the late 1980s, however, Italian entrepreneur Romano Artioli rose to the challenge, and while his dream was relatively short-lived, the vehicles he did bring to fruition—the Bugatti EB 110 GT and its even more potent evolution, the EB 110 Super Sport—can truly be said to have done justice to the legendary nameplate.

After several years of relentless development, and anticipating production success, Artioli went so far as to commission a stylish modern factory for the reborn automaker; its scale spoke to the size of his ambition. Although Artioli’s iteration of Bugatti was located in the high-performance hotspot that is Modena, Italy, rather than Bugatti’s original (and current) home of Molsheim, France, one suspects that Ettore Bugatti himself would have appreciated the scale and grandeur of the impressive, architecturally imposing facility.

Yet the cars produced at that facility would be even more impressive. The first of a planned range of offerings was the EB 110, so named in honor of Ettore Bugatti’s 110th birthday. It would be built on a carbon fiber chassis manufactured by French aerospace concern Aérospatiale; now de rigueur in modern supercars, this advanced composite material was selected because the originally planned aluminum honeycomb was found to be too flexible for use in the ultra-high-performance mid-engine machine. This chassis was wrapped in striking bodywork that, in production form, combined elements of a concept design by Marcello Gandini with refinements by Giampaolo Benedini.

For power, the EB 110 GT received a distinctive 3.5-liter quad-turbocharged V-12 paired with a six-speed manual transmission. A finely tuned all-wheel drive system, yet another forward-looking piece of supercar technology, helped tame its 553 horsepower while ensuring that the EB 110 would be as tractable as it was trackable.

ENTER THE SUPER SPORT

Looking to further increase performance, Bugatti announced the EB110 SS at the Geneva Salon in 1992, six months after the launch of the EB110 GT. Through fitting a new ECU, along with larger injectors and a less restrictive exhaust system, horsepower was increased to 603 horsepower. Bugatti was also able to reduce overall weight by over 330 pounds by replacing some aluminum panels with carbon Kevlar panels bonded to the chassis and fitting magnesium BBS wheels; the SS consequently tipped the scales at under 3,100 pounds. Its 0-60 mph sprint is said to have taken just 3.2 seconds, and its stated top speed was 221 mph; even today, these are jaw-dropping figures.

Unfortunately, the EB 110’s lengthy gestation period—driven in part by Artioli’s uncompromising pursuit of perfection—meant that it came to market just as global economic conditions were beginning to deteriorate. Costing in excess of $350,000, its price ensured that it found few takers, and only 139 EB 110s were produced before the company went into receivership in 1995. While figures vary slightly depending on the source, only approximately 30 of these are believed to have been originally built to Super Sport specification.

Finished in Grigio Chiaro over an interior trimmed in Nero Inchios, this EB 110 SS completed factory testing on 29 April 1994, after which it was delivered to a collector in France. It would later travel to Switzerland, where it would remain until it was purchased by the consignor and imported to the United States. At this time, it was recorded as having been driven a mere 9,500 kilometers (~5,905 miles).

Prior to export, the car received a technical inspection at the B Engineering facility in Italy; this firm was formed by Artioli-era Bugatti employees and is the world’s premier source for EB 110 parts and expertise. At this time, the consignor had B Engineer source and install a correct-type EB 110 SS front bumper for the car, replacing the EB 110 GT-style unit that had been fitted previously. As documentation of file confirms, the car was issued a Bugatti Certificate of Authenticity in May 2019, a testament to its correctness and excellent state of preservation.

Indeed, this chassis has benefitted from careful stewardship from new, with maintenance diligently performed as the EB 110 evolved from a cutting-edge supercar to an eagerly sought collectable. Invoices on file indicate over 35,000 Swiss Francs (~$38,000) of service work performed by Bugatti of Geneva, Switzerland in 2018. After the car’s arrival in the United States, its present owner enlisted Miller Motorcars of Greenwich, Connecticut to perform nearly $27,000 of further work; an invoice dated November 2019 details the installation of new brakes, Pirelli Rosso tires, differential service, as well as other tasks. The expertise of B Engineering was consulted, and parts obtained directly from that company as needed, throughout the course of the work.

The EB 110 Super Sport represents an important and highly respected piece of Bugatti’s ongoing story—so much so that the automaker debuted the Centodieci, a limited-run tribute to the model based on the Bugatti Chiron, in 2020. In fact, owning to its quality and originality, this chassis was displayed by Bugatti at the unveiling of the Centodieci at the 2019 edition of The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, as well as on the lawn at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. More than that, however, it is a fascinating and desirable supercar in its own right, combining staggering performance with enviable exclusivity.

This appealing example, which has seen only limited use and enjoyed scrupulous care by its dedicated owners, displays fewer than 10,000 kilometers at the time of cataloguing—and, having arrived in the United States via air freight on its 25th birthday, it can be enjoyed on American roadways without use or mileage restrictions. Accompanied by a Bugatti Certificate of Authenticity, copies of factory records and data, owner’s manuals, service documentation, an additional set of front brake rotors and pads, and battery tender, it truly represents Artioli’s singular vision for Bugatti at its finest.