Bugatti EB112 May Have Been Giorgetto Giugiaro's Strangest Design

Aug. 07, 2023 12:49 PM ET bySebastian Cenizo Classic Cars /13 Comments

The concept is now turning 30 years old on Giugiaro's 85th birthday.

Thirty years ago, the 1993 edition of the Geneva Motor Show was graced by the appearance of the Bugatti EB112. As a side note, today's date also coincides with the 85th birthday of the EB112's designer,Giorgetto Giugiaro.

"The Bugatti EB112 boasted a number of nostalgic styling features referencing the famous models of the legendary French brand from the late Thirties but presented in a car with innovative mechanicals," said Giugiaro. "The EB112, in many respects, was a dream car and a forerunner to what we today know as high-performance fastback models. It flawlessly combined design with technological and engineering features that were majorly ahead of its time."

但是男孩儿为什么不拴ti put it into production?

For one thing, the EB112 would have been expensive, even for Bugatti buyers of the era. The all-aluminum body was draped over a carbon fiber monocoque, which at the time was a groundbreaking technology for sports cars but had never before been seen on something with a sedan body style. The engine was also something special.

A naturally aspirated 6.0-liter V12 with five valves per cylinder (that's a total of 60 valves) sent power to all four wheels via a six-speed manual transmission. This produced 460 horsepower and 435 lb-ft of torque, enabling a top speed of 186 mph and a 0-62 mph sprint time of 4.3 seconds.

Clearly, performance was not an issue, so what happened?

As mentioned, the cost would have been high, but there were other problems too. For one thing, the styling was somewhat divisive. Some thought it was the most beautiful car in the world, while others couldn't bear to look at it. But the real problems ran deeper.

The EB112 was revealed as a concept in 1993, but in 1995, the automaker went bankrupt. As a result, only three cars were ever made, each slightly different in its own way. For example, the prototype car seen here has its taillights in the bumper rather than above it, while another version had a front splitter and a rear lip spoiler.

Essentially, the EB112 may have been viable, but Bugatti's poor fortunes at the time would have scared many potential buyers off. But does such a market exist now?

Bugatti views itself as a trailblazer of the luxury sedan fastback concept, and it tried to make such a thing come to life again in 2009 when the16C Galibier concept carwas revealed. Clearly, there is a strong desire to move beyond hyper sports cars in their traditional sense, and after theW16 Mistral, Bugatti will be changing the sort of powertrain it uses. Perhaps the death of the W16 will provide an ideal opportunity for Bugatti to explore other body styles, too, and with the positive response to the Koenigsegg Gemera four-door fastback megacar, we believe a modernized EB112 (or Galibier) could, in today's climate, be very successful for Molsheim.

Bugatti credits Giugiaro with helping rebirth the brand in 1998 and with the design of the EB118 and its four-door counterpart, the EB218. Bugatti also says thatits new erawill see future models find inspiration from those Giugiaro and others have created for the automaker.

Perhaps this is a subtle hint that a Giugiaro-designed four-door hypercar is incoming. If not, we can only wonder why.