Speaker Roger Hamilton talking about – The talented Bugatti family

Roger Hamilton talked to The Bishopsteignton Probus Club about four generations of the Bugatti Family who established the Italian look in design, including the famous Bugatti cars.

It started with Giovanni Bugatti (1823-1880) who was an outstanding artist and stonemason winning many awards.  His son Carlo (1856-1940) was highly successful as a painter and furniture-maker, who also received many awards.

Carlo had two sons, the youngest was Rembrandt (1884-1916) who became a famous sculptor whilst Carlo’s eldest son Ettore (1881-1947) was the star of the family.  He became an apprentice engineer in a bicycle company which evolved to produce motorised bicycles.  This sparked Ettore’s passion and he embarked on motor car design and production of the beautiful Bugatti cars, using the artistic and engineering talents that he inherited from his family.

Ettore later added plane and train engines to his products. His eldest son Jean, who was a designer and test driver for the Bugatti car company, died aged 30 in a car accident.

ATTACHED PHOTO: Probus Club member, Andy Jebson (left), gave the Vote of Thanks to speaker Roger Hamilton.