Bugatti Type 41 Royale
1927–1933 · Bugatti Type 41 Royale — Limousine, Inline-8, designed by Ettore Bugatti.
The Story
The Type 41 Royale is Ettore Bugatti’s folly and masterpiece in one. Conceived in the late 1920s as the most magnificent car on earth — grander than any Rolls-Royce — it carried a 12.76-litre straight-eight, a near-four-metre wheelbase, and a price meant only for kings. Ettore planned 25 and reserved them for royalty.
The Great Depression had other ideas: just six were built and only three sold when new. Famously, Ettore refused to sell one to King Zog of Albania, reportedly objecting to the monarch’s table manners. The leftover engines found a second life powering Bugatti’s record-setting Autorail railcars.
For Studio Motors, the Royale is the ultimate blue-chip Bugatti — six cars, all accounted for in the world’s great collections, and among the most valuable automobiles in existence.
The Numbers
Benchmarked against its class
Each dial ranks this car within its Limousine class — fuller means higher, and the tick marks the class midpoint.
Signature Colors
The Designer
Ettore Bugatti
Founder of Bugatti; engineer-artist who designed both the cars and their engines (the Type 41 engine even powered France’s record-setting Autorail railcars). Born Milan 1881; founded Molsheim 1909; died 1947. Sources: Wikipedia (Bugatti).
Studio Motors POV
The apex of the pre-war motoring world and the definition of unobtainium — a car you don’t buy so much as inherit a chance at. For a Bugatti collection, it is the crown.
The Engine
Bugatti Straight-8 (Type 41, 12.76L)
Lineage
Where it sits in the bloodline
Market & Value
Values on cars like this move monthly. Our brokers price from real transactions.
What Reviewers Said About Type 41 Royale
Worth Knowing About the Type 41 Royale
3 Things You Didn’t Know
- 1) Ettore refused to sell a Royale to King Zog of Albania — reportedly over the king's table manners.
- 2) Its straight-eight engine was repurposed to power Bugatti's Autorail railcars, one of which became the world's fastest train (1934).
- 3) Only 6 were built; Ettore kept the first, the Coupé Napoléon, as his personal car.
5 Fast Facts
- • 6 built (1927–1933); only 3 sold when new.
- • 12.76L straight-8 — among the largest car engines ever.
- • ~3,175 kg; ~4.3 m wheelbase.
- • Kellner Coupé sold £5.5M ($9.87M) at Christie's, 1987.
- • All six survive, in museums and major collections.
Provenance
Owners & what to look for
Famous Owners
Armand Esders (French clothing magnate — the headlight-less Esders Roadster); Dr. Joseph Fuchs (the Weinberger Cabriolet, taken to New York in 1937); Ettore Bugatti himself (the Coupé Napoléon). In the modern era: Domino’s founder Tom Monaghan paid $8.1M for the Berline de Voyage (1986); Swedish tycoon Hans Thulin bought the Kellner Coupé at the 1987 Christie’s record sale. Cars reside in the Cité de l’Automobile (Schlumpf), the Henry Ford Museum, and the Volkswagen/Bugatti collection.
Studio Buyer’s Brief
Academic for buyers — all six are known and almost never trade. If one surfaces, it is a museum-grade, eight-figure transaction defined entirely by chassis identity, original coachwork and unbroken provenance. The Coupé Napoléon and Esders cars carry the deepest history.
Full Specifications
- Make / Model
- Bugatti Type 41 Royale
- Class
- Limousine
- Production years
- 1927–1933
- Units built
- 6 built (7 incl. prototype); only 3 sold when new
- Variants
- Coupé Napoléon, Esders Roadster, Weinberger Cabriolet, Kellner Coupé, Park Ward Limousine
- Engine layout
- Front
- Engine
- Inline-8
- Engine family
- Bugatti Straight-8 (Type 41, 12.76L)
- Displacement
- 12.76 L (12,763 cc) straight-8
- Power
- 300 hp
- Torque
- lb-ft
- 0–60 mph
- s
- Top speed
- mph
- Power-to-weight
- 94 hp/tonne · 23.3 lb/hp
- Transmission
- 3-speed manual
- Drivetrain
- Rear-wheel drive · Petrol
- Curb weight
- 7000 lb
Questions
Type 41 Royale FAQ
How many Bugatti Royales were built?
Six production cars plus the original prototype, built between 1927 and 1933. Per Bugatti’s own history, only four Type 41s were sold to customers when new.
Why did Ettore Bugatti refuse to sell a Royale to King Zog?
Ettore reportedly rejected King Zog of Albania as a buyer, citing the king’s table manners. The Royale was intended for royalty, but ultimately no reigning monarch ever purchased one.
Can you buy a Bugatti Royale today?
All six surviving Royales are in museums or major private collections and almost never trade. Any sale would be a private, brokered transaction well into eight figures.
How much is a Bugatti Royale worth?
The Kellner Coupe sold for approximately $9.7M at Christie’s in 1987. Today, a Royale is estimated at $20M or more, though none has traded publicly in decades.
What happened to the Bugatti Royale’s engine after production?
Bugatti repurposed the 12.76-liter straight-eight to power its Autorail railcars. One of these railcars set a world rail speed record of 196 km/h in 1934.
The Bugatti Lineup
Explore every Bugatti
Type 35 ’24Type 41 Royale ’27
Type 55 ’32Type 57 ’34Type 57SC Atlantic ’36
Chiron ’16La Voiture Noire ’19
Divo ’20Centodieci ’22Bolide ’24W16 Mistral ’24Tourbillon ’26
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