When Ace Hood, Rick Ross, and Future famously pronounced "I woke up in a new Bugatti," they were of course talking about the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, a $1.2 million car in Ace's own estimation. Little, did Ace, Ross, or most of the rest of the world for that matter know, the Veyron supercar had an even rarer and less known predecessor. A predecessor whose value at worst matches the Veyrons and at best, outright surpasses it.

If nothing else, it was a young Formula One legend's first choice of car.

Related: The 1934 Type 59 Is The Most Beautiful Bugatti Racing Car Ever Made

An International Revival Of The Bugatti Brand

All Four Remaining Bugatti Type 59s
via Classic Driver

Bugatti is one of those automotive names that have been around almost as long as the automobile itself. It was a French company for most of its existence, building high-quality luxury and racing cars for wealthy customers. The original iteration of the Bugatti name ceased in the early 1960s. That was until an ambitious Italian entrepreneur named Romano Artioli purchased the intellectual property rights to the defunct French luxury brand.

Bugatti-EB110
via topgir

This venture's one and only production was a quad-turbocharged V12 powered all-wheel-drive monster of a supercar that was for a brief period at least, the fastest car in the world, just like the Veyron. At full acceleration, the EB110 could jet to 218 miles per hour in a later model Supersports kit.

Higher Quality Than The Jaguar XJ220

EB110 Engine

Of course, the other early 90's supercar that most people compare the Bugatti to is the rally-car engined Jaguar XJ-220. Indeed, the Jag and the Bugatti were aimed at the same ultra-wealthy customers. Further still, initial plans for the XJ220 called for an all-wheel-drive V12 setup not so dissimilar from the EB110's.

Related: Bugatti Chiron Super Sport: Costs, Facts, And Figures

Formula One Royalty's Ride Of Choice

EB110 2

That's about where the similarities between the Bugatti and the Jaguar end. The Bugatti was the clearly more refined and better-built automobile, as its most famous owner Michael Schumacher displayed by making it his car of choice.

Bugatti-EB110
via autoclaassics

A famous anecdote regarding the EB110 and possibly the most famous racing driver of all time takes place soon after he purchased a bright yellow example in 1992. His Benneton F1 teammate at the time was future Fifth Gear presenter Martin Brundle, who Schumacher allowed to take the brand new supercar for a blast around roads of the south of France around the Paul Ricard test circuit. Brundle walked away from the experience finding the Bugatti's complex quad-turbo engine a bit "weird" and "a bit lazy" on public roads where the turbos didn't have time to spool properly.

EB110
Via: LS2.com

A decade later in 2003, Brundle was given the chance to take the EB110 to the track to stretch its legs properly. Out on the open track, Brundle finally came to understand why his colleague chose the Bugatti over any other car he could have possibly wanted. Even if the EB 110 was hardly noticed because of a crashing 90s economy and being surpassed fairly promptly by the Mclaren F1, the Bugatti had a seal of approval that can't be had by any other supercar. That alone makes the EB10 at least the same in value as the Veyron, it just so happens it's also a fantastic car in itself.

Sources: Fifth Gear

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