There are several famous cars out there. These cars are always the star of the show and are often an object of pride to whoever ends up behind their wheels. But in all the glitz and glamour, some quite crucial people are often left out of the equation. These are iconic people whose passion, vision, and incredible talent culminated in the production of these special cars, and one of those people is the legendary Italian entrepreneur Romano Artioli.
Notably, Artioli’s passion and deep enthusiasm for cars is greatly influenced by his background. He is said to have grown up learning about the automotive sector while keenly following and admiring racing drivers and their automobiles. Artioli is a highly revered automotive production icon, and he also performed quite admirably managing several business ventures. Therefore, let’s furnish you with some facts about this legendary automotive enthusiast who is also quite famous for plotting the incredible rescue of the iconic Bugatti brand.
8 Born In Moglia
Romano Artioli was born on December 5, 1932, in Moglia, a commune located in the Province of Mantua in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy. Nonetheless, having been born in Moglia, Artioli was however raised in Bolzano, the capital city of the South Tyrol province in northern Italy.
Growing up in Bolzano, he attended and graduated from a key professional institute, where he studied mechanical engineering. During his time in the institute, Artioli studied for eight hours daily.
7 Revived Bugatti
Bugatti is the brainchild of legendary automotive industrial engineer Ettore Bugatti. However, many enthusiasts believe the marque wouldn’t be what we know of it today if not for the efforts of Artioli.
After several companies had failed in their attempts at reviving Bugatti, Artioli acquired the Bugatti trademark in 1987, becoming the chairman of Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. The company would later be forced to shut down again in September 1995 after Artioli filed for bankruptcy.
6 Produced Bugatti EB110
During Artioli’s time at the helms of Bugatti’s operations, he led the production of one of the most iconic Bugatti models ever, the EB110 – the grandfather of the Veyron and Chiron. Produced from 1991 to 1995, the EB110 would become the only Bugatti model produced during Artioli’s reign in the company.
Developmental work on the EB110’s engine and chassis started in 1987 while production eventually started four years later, and Bugatti produced a total of 139 units of the EB110.
5 Built The World’s Fastest Car
Not only did Artioli oversee the production of the iconic EB110, but the amazing car also swiftly became the world’s fastest production car after its release. Upon introduction, the sports car was powered by a quad-turbocharged 3.5-liter V12 engine that produced 553 horsepower in the GT variant and 603 horsepower in the slightly tuned Super Sport (SS) version.
Officially, the sportier EB110 SS sprinted from rest to 60 mph in 3.14 seconds and made a top speed of 220.6 mph to become the world’s fastest car of that period.
4 Has An Impressive Collection Of Historic Bugattis
Artioli was born in Moglia in Mantua, the hometown of popular racing driver Tazio Nuvolari. A great influence on his life at quite a young age, Artioli adored Nuvolari and other racing drivers, including the cars they drove. As a 12-year-old, Artioli had known his life would revolve around cars and engines, and as a 20-year-old he vowed to revive the sickly Bugatti company.
Notably, Artioli's collection of historic Bugattis would show his great penchant for the brand, and he subsequently added an EB100 SS to the collection.
3 Owned Lotus
As part of his foray into the business of car production, and having previously acquired the Bugatti company, Artioli added Lotus Cars to his catalog of companies. He purchased the brand in August 1993 from General Motors and assumed the role of the company’s chairman.
Artioli remained Lotus’ chairman till 1996 after which he stepped down and became Special Projects director, a role he held till 1998. Subsequently, he sold a majority stake of Lotus to Proton in 1996 in a bid to cushion his losses from Bugatti’s insolvency.
2 Oversaw The Introduction Of Lotus Elise
Although it was conceived in 1994, Lotus Elise was released by Lotus Cars in September 1996 during Artioli’s reign as the company’s chairman. The introductory model known as the Series 1 weighed just 1,598 lb, and it could accelerate from rest to 60 mph in a mere 5.8 seconds.
The car is powered by a 1.8-liter Rover K-series I4 with a mild output of 116 horsepower. Remarkably, the Lotus Elise was named after Artioli’s granddaughter, Elisa Artioli.
1 Ran One Of The World’s Largest Ferrari Dealerships
Impressively, Romano Artioli is an exceptional entrepreneur, as he ran some of the biggest enterprises in the world back in the day. Before his foray into automotive production, Artioli was Italy’s largest importer of Japanese cars. He owns Autoexpò, a company that became the first Italian importer of Suzuki in 1982.
Also, Artioli at a time ran arguably the largest Ferrari dealerships in the world, selling in Italy and Germany, and he was the first-ever Italian dealer of General Motors’ brand of vehicles.