The Bugatti EB 112 is the stillborn concept 4-door fastback saloon presented by Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. in 1993.

Giorgetto Giugiaro Giorgetto Giugiaro (; born 7 August 1938) is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was born in Garessio, Cuneo, Piedmont. Giugiaro was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted ...

Italdesign Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A. is a design and engineering company and brand based in Moncalieri, Italy, that traces its roots to the 1968 foundation of Studi Italiani Realizzazione Prototipi S.p.A. by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani. Best k ...

was responsible for designing the car. The EB 112 features a

V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The f ...

and

permanent four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

system.

Design

Bugatti S.p.A. commissioned

to create a

full-size Full-size car—also known as large car—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than mid-size cars, it is the largest size class for cars. In Europe, it is known as E-segment or F-segment. ...

saloon version of the EB 110

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

. The result was the EB 112, which was a retro-styled four-door fastback saloon reminiscent of older Bugatti models, such as the well-known Type 57 Galiber. The body was made entirely of aluminium, with a

carbon-fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

chassis shared with the EB 110.

Debut

Bugatti debuted the EB 112 in March 1993, at the Geneva Motor Show. It received mixed reviews due to its unconventional design. However, ''Automobile'' magazine had named the car "The most beautiful car in the world" when it was introduced.

Production

Since the Bugatti EB 112 was a concept car and a stillborn project, the development was undertaken in the factory and the show car was completed on the assembly line. When Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. went bankrupt in 1995, some assets of the company were purchased by businessman Gildo Pallanca Pastor. The assets included spare parts and three unfinished EB 112 saloons. Two of those were completed in 1998 by his firm Monaco Racing Team located in Monaco. One car was finished in Black exterior colour and the other was finished in Anthracite colour. Each of the three cars are slightly different, as the red car has bumper integrated taillights opposed to having them placed above the rear bumper on the other cars. The blue design study (repainted in the same red as the working prototype) differs from the others because it has more aerodynamic enhancements, such as a subtle front splitter and a rear lip spoiler just below the rear window.

Successors

The EB 112 had several cars meant to be an evolution of its 4-door design. The first is the EB 218, with a W18 engine and larger dimensions. The second was the 16C Galibier, a concept luxury saloon conceived and developed in 2009.

Powertrain

Power comes from a

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...

-designed V12 engine generating a power output of and of torque. The engine featured 5 valves per cylinder, and has a displacement of 6.0-litres opposed to the EB110's 3.5-litres. The engine is placed behind the front wheels, more towards the center of the car inside of the

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...

to have a much better weight distribution. The EB 112 features permanent all-wheel drive. The car can accelerate from 0–100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.3 seconds and has a claimed top speed of .

Owners

A black EB 112 (s/n 39003), owned by Gildo Pallanca Pastor, the current CEO and owner of the French car company Venturi, was spotted being driven around in Monaco in 2013. The car was auctioned in 2016. The first working prototype (red, s/n 39001) is owned by Italdesign while a third car finished in dark Anthracite exterior colour was sold to a Russian individual by Pastor's firm, Monaco Racing Team, which completed the car.

References

External links

*≥ *http://www.italdesign.it/en/projects/bugatti-eb-112-eng/
Motor1.com. Bugatti ID 90 And EB 112, EB 118, EB 218: Concept We Forgot
{{Bugatti road car timeline, 1980s–present All-wheel-drive vehicles Retro-style automobiles Full-size vehicles Luxury vehicles Sports sedans 1990s cars Bugatti concept vehicles