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Chassis:
There has been a lot of debate among (Bugatti) historians, whether there were six or seven Royales produced. The controversy concentrates on the prototype chassis with the serial number 41100. This was the car that was equipped with the Packard body in 1927 and subsequently sported two other bodies, before being heavily crashed. Particularly the third, Weymann designed and penned Coupe body was a great success, winning universal acclaim and concours awards. Unfortunately Ettore Bugatti crashed the car in the 1930s, but he then went about rebuilding the car, again using the chassis number 41100. There are those that say that the original '41100' had a longer wheelbase and the 15 litre engine, which would mean that the rebuilt '41100' would be a seventh chassis built. All we know for certain is that only six chassis numbers were attributed.
Upon completion of the rebuild, chassis 41100 was equipped with a Jean Bugatti penned sedanca style body with a fantastic glass roof. The car is commonly referred to as the 'Coupe Napoleon' and was owned for many years by the Bugattis. They eventually sold the car to the Fritz Schlumpf and it has since been part of the Schlumpf Collection. Alongside another of the six(/seven) Royales, it is on permanent display at the Musee National de l'Automobile in Mulhouse, France. At a rare outing, it is pictured above during the 2007 Goodwood Festival of Speed together with four other Royales. As there is only one Royale in private hands, Tom Wheatcroft of Donnington Museum fame has had an virtually identical replica constructed of the Coupe Napoleon. The entire built took over ten years.
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