The Bugatti Autorail.
The first Bugatti Autorail (Autorails Bugatti) was built in 1933 and deployed on the Paris-Deauville line at an average speed of 116km/h. French President Albert Lebrun traveled in it from Paris to Cherbourg, saving him an hour of travel time. Railcars of this first type were since called Présidentiel.
Passengers enjoyed a panoramic view without any obstruction at the front and rear.
Passengers were seated on large and comfortable tube armchairs with adjustable backrests. In the first class they where fitted with headrests.
The driver was located in a raised cabin above the engines in the center. It must have been spectacular to sit at the front window of the Bugatti while driving at 150km/h.
In 1928 Raoul Dautry became the managing director of ETAT (The French govenment body in charge of the national projects). He carried out modernizations in order to compete with the increasing road traffic. New lines were constructed and electrified. New train types were introduced such as the Bugatti Autorail.
The first railway company to put the Bugatti Autorail in use was the ETAT. It had since become one of the five French major railway networks.
The second railway company using Bugatti Autorail was PLM, which linked Paris to Lyon and the Mediterranean. At these long distances the high speed provided by Bugatti was very welcome. From 1934 onwards the railcars were running to Vichy and Lyon, and the next year also between Marseille and Nice.
The Bugattis reduced the journey time between Paris and Lyon to less than 5 hours. The autorails excelled in speed, like Bugatti cars did. Unlike other railcars they were very suitable for high-speed long distance services.
In 1938 the five major railway companies, including ETAT and PLM, were merged and nationalized. From that moment onwards all Bugattis ran under the SNCF (France national railway company).
Bugatti was advertising the railcars, aiming at domestic and foreign railway companies as well as car buyers. After all, the modern image of the autorails reflected well on the automobiles. The advertising slogan Le Pur Sang de l'Automobile (The Pure Blood of the Automobile) was extended with et du Rail (The Pure Blood of the Automobile and the Rail).
Bugatti presented the Bugatti Autorail at the 1937 World's Fair. Although there was great international interest the train was never exported.
In 1935 an average speed of 130km/h was measured between Strasbourg and Paris. On the same line, the world record for rail vehicles was established in 1937 at 196km/h.
The Bugatti Autorail's success soon led to variants with more seats and less engines. The four engines proved to be fuel guzzlers, while high speeds were not useful everywhere. For that reason new trains were built with the 400hp cars instead of 800hp. To increase passenger capacity longer units were built, measuring 42 meters together and providing 74 seats.
The longest Bugatti railcar was introduced in 1936: the three-piece 'Triple' measured 60 meters and had 144 seats.
Bugatti was originally a small company. Series of exclusive cars were produced by local craftsmen and Ettore Bugatti himself looked over every detail.
The success of the Bugatti Autorail turned Bugatti into an industrial company. Workers had to be recruited from elsewhere while trade unions altered traditional workplace relations. Ettore Bugatti could not exercise control like he was used to and left the management to his son Jean.
The Bugatti Autorail had a relatively short lifetime. After some 20 years they were taken out of service, the last one in 1958. Their early retirement was due to their high fuel consumption. Like Bugatti cars they were fast and beautiful but definitely not economical. Of the 88 Bugatti railcars only one was preserved.
The preserved specimen was built in 1934. It was used as an inspection vehicle until 1970. In 1980 the Bugatti railcar was restored to its original condition.
Nowadays it stands in the Cité du Train museum at Mulhouse, not far from the place where it was built 89 years ago.