BARTOLOMEO „MEO“ COSTANTINI

1889-1941

Costantini was a racing driver in the aquila italiana team (1914–17). He joined Bugatti (1923) and won two Targa florio in a Bugatti type 35(1925–26), won the circuto laserti (1926), and in chassis #4802 of Type 39, got second in French GP (1926). He remained racing team manager until 1935, replaced by Jean Bugatti.

LOUIS CHIRON

1899-1979

He joined the factory team in 1927 and quickly became number one. He won almost all the major Grand Prix events for the brand, such as the 1931 Grand Prix in his home country of Monaco in a Type 51. He was also a successful hillclimbing racer, winning the 1929 Klausenrennen in a 16-cylinder Type 45. After leaving Bugatti, in 1933 he founded the privateer team “CC” with Rudolf Caracciola. He raced in his last Grand Prix in Monaco at the age of 56.

RENÉ DREYFUS

1905-1993

Dreyfus raced in a number of amateur events around the French Riviera and won five championships. His successes caught the attention of Ernest Friderich, Bugatti’s sales agent for the Riviera, who hired Dreyfus and encouraged him to enter his Bugatti Type 37A in the first Monaco Grand Prix in 1929. Dreyfus won his class and placed fifth overall. It was the first professional race of his career.

ERNEST FRIDERICH

1886-1954

In 1911, he came in second at the French Grand Prix, the only circuit race that Bugatti took part in prior to the First World War. He won the Grand Prix de la Sarthe in Le Mans in 1920 in a Type 13 and the Grand Prix des Voiturettes in Brescia in 1921, also in a Type 13. These wins represented Bugatti’s first ever racing victories. In 1924, he became Bugatti’s Nice agent and promoted many promising young talents such as René Dreyfus.

ELISABETH JUNEK

1900-1994

Elisabeth Junek was one of the most successful female racing drivers of all time. At the 1928 Targa Florio in Sicily, she came in first or second in four of the five laps in her Type 35B. Only a malfunction in the fifth lap set her back to finish the race in fifth place. She had already achieved success in 1927 at the Nürburgring and Montlhéry in various Bugattis in different categories. She retired from racing in 1928.

PIERRE DE VIZCAYA

1894-1933

Pierre was a member of the factory team from 1920 to 1925. During this period, he drove the Type 13 Brescia, the eight-cylinder “Cigar” in 1922 and the “Tank” in 1923. The same year, he raced the eight-cylinder Monoposto at the Indianapolis 500. After 1924, needless to say, he raced in the Type 35 too. He won the Penya Rhin Grand Prix in 1921 and came second several times.

JEAN-PIERRE WIMILLE

1908-1949

he became an official factory driver in 1933. He came to Bugatti at a time when its major successes were starting to become a distant memory, which makes the long list of wins that Wimille racked up for Molsheim all the more astonishing. It was Wimille who achieved Bugatti’s two Le Mans victories. He also achieved Bugatti’s last ever victory in 1947, when he won the “Coupé des Prisonniers” in Bois de Boulogne.

PIERRE VEYRON

1903-1971

Pierre Veyron first began racing in a Type 37A in 1930. From 1933 to 1937, Veyron raced for Bugatti as a factory driver, mainly in the 1.5-liter category. His wins included victories at the AVUS racetrack in Berlin and in Albi. His greatest victory came in 1939, when he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Jean-Pierre Wimille in the Bugatti Tank 57C.