The Bugatti EB118 is the Bugatti that answered a simple question — how much car can this badge carry? — with 555 bhp @ 6800 RPM from 6250 cc W18. It was built from 1998, when airbags, anti-lock brakes and Japanese build quality became the world standard. Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign drew it.
How it came about
The Bugatti EB 118 is the first concept car developed by Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. The 2-door coupé was presented at the 1998 Paris Motor Show. Bugatti commissioned the design of the EB 118 from Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign. The EB 118 is powered by a W18 engine and has permanent All-wheel drive.
The hardware
Power comes from 6250 cc W18; 555 bhp @ 6800 RPM is the published figure. It weighs 2177 kg. Work it out per tonne and you get about 255 horsepower — genuine supercar pace. It shifts through a 5-speed automatic. The layout matters: drive goes to all four wheels, which is what lets the power be used on a wet road. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Bentley Hunaudières, the Porsche 911 GT3, the Ferrari 550 — show what else the money bought that year. Its Bugatti stablemates include the Bugatti 57 Galibier and the Bugatti 8-cylinder line.