24 Hours Of Le Mans 1994

<p><strong>Official Marketing Text:</strong></p> <ul> <li><em>Limited to just 199 pieces</em></li> <li><em>Based on the car as raced by Alain Cudini, &Eacute;ric H&eacute;lary and Jean-Christophe Bouillon in the 24 Hours of Le Mans at Circuit de la Sarthe on 18 and 19 June 1994</em></li> <li><em>1:8 scale model, over 55 cms/21 inches long</em></li> <li><em>Each model hand-built and assembled by a small team of craftsmen</em></li> <li><em>Made using the finest quality materials</em></li> <li><em>Over 3000 hours to develop the model</em></li> <li><em>Over 300 hours to build each model</em></li> <li><em>Thousands of precisely engineered parts: castings, photo-etchings and CNC machined metal components</em></li> <li><em>Built using original CAD designs, paint codes and material specifications provided by Bugatti</em></li> <li><em>Officially licensed 24 Hours of Le Mans product</em></li> </ul> <p><em>With plans being put in place from 1989, the EB110GT was presented to the public in Paris in 1991 on the day that would have marked Ettore Bugatti&rsquo;s 110th birthday, hence the car&rsquo;s name. The car was originally designed by Marcello Gandini but his designed angular design was considered too radical and Giampaolo Benedini was tasked to soften the design into what we now know as the EB110.</em></p> <p><em>The mid-engine sports car housed a technologically advanced 3.5 litre mid-mounted 12-cylinder engine, further enhanced by four turbochargers. Two camshafts per bank and 60 valves &ndash; five per cylinder &ndash; ensured an extraordinarily fast throttle response. Depending on the exact model, the engine generated between 560 and 610HP, permanently transmitted to all four wheels, giving a 0-100km/h sprint time of as little as 3.26 seconds. This made it the fastest series-production car of its era, and gave it a top speed of 351km/h. Bugatti set four world records with the EB110: fastest acceleration, fastest series-production sports car, fastest gas-powered sports car and fastest series-production car on ice. Even today, almost 30 years later, the EB110 is still among the world&rsquo;s fastest cars. The aluminium body panels are bonded to a carbon fibre monocoque chassis; the EB110 was the first road car to feature this technique. Aluminium, carbon fibre and aramid fibre-reinforced plastic were used for the body, the wheels were cast from magnesium and each screw was made of titanium. The car also possessed active aerodynamics and an all-wheel drive system, also scarcely used in the automotive industry at the time.</em></p> <p><em>Around 96 EB110 GT and 32 EB110 Supersport production cars were produced up until 1995, a total of around 128 vehicles, two of which were official factory racing cars with an output of 670HP. These raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, at Suzuka and in the American IMSA series, including the 24 Hours of Daytona. They were the last cars to leave the factory gates.</em></p> <p><em>This fine model of the Bugatti EB110 is a 1:8 scale replica of the car that entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1994, Bugatti&rsquo;s first foray at Le Mans after a lengthy 55-year absence from the legendary track. Next to the &lsquo;Dauer&rsquo; Porsche, the Bugatti proved fastest in practice and entered the race with drivers Alain Cudini, Le Mans winner &Eacute;ric H&eacute;lary and Jean-Christophe Bouillon. Despite an impressive performance, the EB110 needed all four of its turbos replaced during the morning session and dropped well down the rankings. The team&rsquo;s race came to an end during the dying laps when a tyre blowout threw the Bouillon into the barriers on the Mulsanne Straight.</em></p> <p><em>This Bugatti EB 110 model has been handcrafted and finished in our workshops with the co-operation and assistance of Bugatti regarding original finishes, materials, archive imagery and drawings. The use of supremely accurate digital scanning of the original car has allowed us to perfectly recreate every detail at scale. Furthermore, it has undergone detailed scrutiny by both the Bugatti engineering and design teams to ensure complete accuracy of representation.</em></p>