Exotic Cars Around the World

In 1940 a contract was signed with the  Packard Motor Car Company  in Detroit, Michigan, for the production of Merlin aero engines in the USA. Production focussed on aero engines but a variant of the Merlin engine, known as the  Meteor , was developed for the  Cromwell tank . The Meteor's development completed in 1943 the same team at the Belper foundry restarted work on an eight-cylinder car engine widening its uses and it became the pattern for the British Army's  B range of petrol engines  for post war combat vehicles [3]  in particular in  Alvis 's  FV600  range, [nb 2]   Daimler 's  Ferret ,  Humber 's  Hornet  and  Pig  and  Austin 's  Champ . A time when all car companies worked together and not against each other.  No bitter rivalry between companies, no smear campaigns just working men and woman working for the same thing.

In the 1930s,  Rolls-Royce  broke world records on land and sea. And automation saw the arrival of Phantom III – the first ever  Rolls-Royce  to be built with a V12 engine. Travelling at 272.46 mph, Sir Malcolm Campbell broke the world land speed record in 1933 with Bluebird. But George Eyston smashed this time four years later by reaching 312.2 mph in Thunderbolt – a motor car powered by two  Rolls-Royce  ‘R’ engines. And Sir Henry Segrave broke the world sea record at 119 mph in Miss England II. Also engineered with ‘R’ engines, Sir Henry was killed moments later after colliding with a submerged tree stump. Rolls-Royce  improved the chassis of Phantom II, making it the first choice for the growing middle class who would cruise down to the south of France for the weekend. The same decade saw the launch of the first ever V12-engined  Rolls-Royce  – Phantom II The V-12 was the came changer!!!

Aero-engine manufacture began in 1914 because the government requested it. [3]  Rolls-Royce's Eagle, the first example was made in 1915, was the first engine to make a non-stop trans-Atlantic crossing by aeroplane when in June 1919 two Eagles powered the converted  Vickers Vimy  bomber on the  transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown . British aviators  John Alcock and Arthur Brown  made the first non-stop  transatlantic flight  in June 1919. [1]  They flew a modified First World War  Vickers Vimy [2]  bomber from  St. John's ,  Newfoundland , to  Clifden ,  Connemara ,  County Galway , Ireland. [3]  The  Secretary of State for Air ,  Winston Churchill , presented them with the  Daily Mail  prize  for the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by aeroplane in "less than 72 consecutive hours". [4]  A small amount of mail was carried on the flight, making it the first transatl...

In 1907, the Silver Ghost was declared ‘The Best Car in the World’ after its record breaking success. Travelling from London to Glasgow 27 times - covering 14,371 consecutive miles - the iconic motor car broke the world record for a non-stop motor run while demonstrating unrivalled reliability and comfort. Despite earning the marque this legendary title, Silver Ghost was phased out in 1925 and replaced by New Phantom. Later known as Phantom I, this model was built in both the UK and USA. The 1920s also marked the start of  Rolls-Royce’ s contribution to aviation engineering. After the First World War and the opening of the first  Rolls-Royce  factory in Massachusetts, USA, the ‘R’ engine set a new world air speed record.  Developed for Britain’s entry into the 1929 Intercontinental Schneider Trophy seaplane contest, it evolved into the Merlin engine, which later powered both the Spitfire and Hurricane. Like most automakers of the time their cont...

Charles Stewart Rolls  (27 August 1877 – 12 July 1910) was a Welshman who was a motoring and aviation pioneer. Together with  Henry Royce  he co-founded the  Rolls-Royce  car manufacturing firm. He was the first Briton to be killed in an aeronautical accident with a powered aircraft, when the tail of his  Wright Flyer  broke off during a flying display in the  Southbourne  district of  Bournemouth . He was aged 32. Rolls was born in  Berkeley Square , London, third son of the  1st Baron Llangattock  and  Lady Llangattock . Despite his London birth, he retained a strong family connection with his ancestral home [1]  of  The Hendre , near  Monmouth , Wales. After attending Mortimer Vicarage  Preparatory School  in Berkshire, he was educated at  Eton College  where his developing interest in engines earned him the nickname  dirty Rolls  In 1896, at the age of 18, he travel...

Veyron era (2005–2015) Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. began assembling its first regular-production vehicle, the  Bugatti Veyron 16.4  (the 1001 BHP super car with an 8-litre W-16 engine with four turbochargers) in September 2005 at the Bugatti  Molsheim , France assembly "studio". [11] [12]  On 23 February 2015, Bugatti sold its last Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, which was named La Finale. [13] Chiron era (2016–present) The  Bugatti Chiron  is a  mid-engined , two-seated sports car, designed by Achim Anscheidt, [14]  developed as the successor to the  Bugatti Veyron . [15]  The Chiron was first revealed at the  Geneva Motor Show  on March 1, 2016. [16] [17] I want to say thank you for reading and Bugatti is one amazing vehicle.  Remember the "Bugatti Queen", name of the book, great read.  Also if you are into vehicles and their impact on the world and history, read our Automakers go to War blog.  Below are ...

Volkswagen AG  acquired the Bugatti brand in 1998. Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. commissioned  Giorgetto Giugiaro  of  ItalDesign to produce Bugatti Automobiles's first concept vehicle, the  EB118 , a  coupé  that debuted at the 1998  Paris Auto Show . The EB118 concept featured a 408- kilowatt  (555  PS ; 547  bhp ), W-18 engine. After its Paris debut, the  EB118  concept was shown again in 1999 at the  Geneva Auto Show  and the  Tokyo Motor Show . Bugatti introduced its next concepts, the  EB 218  at the 1999  Geneva Motor Show  and the  18/3 Chiron  at the 1999  Frankfurt Motor Show  (IAA). Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. began assembling its first regular-production vehicle, the  Bugatti Veyron 16.4  (the 1001 BHP super car with an 8-litre W-16 engine with four turbochargers) in September 2005 at the Bugatti  Molsheim , France assembly "studio". [11] [12] ...

Italian entrepreneur  Romano Artioli  acquired the Bugatti brand in 1987, and established  Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. . Artioli commissioned architect Giampaolo Benedini to design the factory which was built in  Campogalliano , Modena, Italy. Construction of the plant began in 1988, alongside the development of the first model, and it was inaugurated two years later—in 1990. [9] By 1989 the plans for the new Bugatti revival were presented by Paolo Stanzani and  Marcello Gandini , designers of the  Lamborghini Miura  and  Lamborghini Countach . The first production vehicle was the  Bugatti EB110 GT . It used a  carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer  chassis, a 3.5-litre, 5-valve per cylinder, quad- turbocharged  60°  V12 engine , a six-speed  gearbox , and  four-wheel drive . Famed racing car designer  Mauro Forghieri  served as Bugatti's technical director from 1992 through 1994. On 27 August 1993, thro...

The  Bugatti Model 100  was a purpose built  air racer  designed to compete in the 1939  Deutsch de la Meurthe Cup Race . The aircraft was not completed by the September 1939 deadline and was put in storage prior to the  German invasion of France . Ettore Bugatti  started work in 1938 to design a racer to compete in the Deutsch de la Meurthe Cup Race, using engines sold in his automotive line for co-marketing. Bugatti's chief engineer was  Louis de Monge , with whom Bugatti had worked before. Bugatti was also approached by the French Government to use the technology of the racing aircraft to develop a fighter variant for mass production. The aircraft was the source of five modern patents including the inline engines, V tail mixer controls, and the automatic flap system. Racing must have been in his blood, never knew the planes Bugatti made were for that purpose, I had heard about certain things with it for WW2 and I knew about the trains.....

Italian entrepreneur  Romano Artioli  acquired the Bugatti brand in 1987, and established  Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. . Artioli commissioned architect Giampaolo Benedini to design the factory which was built in  Campogalliano , Modena, Italy. Construction of the plant began in 1988, alongside the development of the first model, and it was inaugurated two years later—in 1990. [9] By 1989 the plans for the new Bugatti revival were presented by Paolo Stanzani and  Marcello Gandini , designers of the  Lamborghini Miura  and  Lamborghini Countach . The first production vehicle was the  Bugatti EB110 GT . It used a  carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer  chassis, a 3.5-litre, 5-valve per cylinder, quad- turbocharged  60°  V12 engine , a six-speed  gearbox , and  four-wheel drive . Famed racing car designer  Mauro Forghieri  served as Bugatti's technical director from 1992 through 1994. On 27 August 1993, thro...

According to a  Los Angeles Times  review of Nice's biography, fellow driver  Louis Chiron  accused her, at a 1949 party in  Monaco  to celebrate the first postwar  Monte Carlo Rally , of “collaborating with the Nazis”. The review says biographer  Miranda Seymour  is “circumspect on Nice’s guilt”. [1]  A review of the same book in  The New York Times  says Nice was accused of being a “Gestapo agent”; that Seymour “rebuts” the charge; and that it made Nice "unemployable. One of the 20th century's most colorful and illustrious pioneering women who had successfully competed in more than seventy events at the highest echelon of automobile racing, spent her final years in a sordid rat-infested apartment in the back alleys of the city of Nice, living under a fictitious name to hide her shame. Estranged from her family for years, she died penniless, friendless, and completely forgotten by the rich and glamorous crowd involved in G...

In 1936, she traveled to Brazil to compete in two Grand Prix races. During the  São Paulo Grand Prix , she was in second place behind Brazilian champion Manuel de Teffé when a freak accident resulted in her nearly being killed. Her Alfa Romeo somersaulted through the air and crashed into the grandstand, killing four race fans and injuring more than thirty others. Nice was thrown from the car and landed on a soldier who absorbed the full impact of her body, saving her life. The force of the impact killed the soldier and because she lay unconscious, she too was thought to be dead. Taken to hospital, she awoke from a coma three days later and two months later was discharged from the hospital. The tragedy turned her into a national hero among the Brazilian population. Despite her famous comeback it was actually a road to nowhere...sad.. stay tuned for the last segment of the Bugatti Queen. autosmithcar.com

Hellé Nice  (born  Mariette Hélène Delangle ; 15 December 1900 – died 1 October 1984) was a  French   model , dancer, and a  Grand Prix motor racing  driver. At the time, the Paris area was one of the principal centres of the French car industry and there were numerous competitions for auto enthusiasts. Nice loved the thrill of driving fast cars and so snatched the chance to perform in the racing event at the annual fair organized by fellow performers from the Paris entertainment world. She was an avid  downhill skier  but an accident on the slopes damaged her knee and ended her dancing career. Hellé Nice decided to try her hand at professional auto racing. In 1929, driving an  Oméga-Six , she won an all-female Grand Prix race at  Autodrome de Montlhéry  in the process setting a new world land speed record for women. Capitalizing on her fame, the following year she toured the United States, racing at a variety of tracks in an ...