Restoration of a Bugatti EB110 GT

Back in 1991 the Bugatti EB110 GT was the most advanced car of its time, listen : a carbon fiber chassis, quad-turbo V12 engine and four wheel drive. Stellar performance and legendary handling instantly made it an icon of the 90s and simply one of the most fascinating Supercar ever.

Restoring one from the bare chassis in 2024 is however a real challenge, some said impossible. When we sold in the end of 2023 #071 to our customer we knew it was a great car with only 7,000 km from new but it was already a 30 years old car, furthermore this example coming from the Kuwaiti Emir’s estate had not been driven in the last 17 years.

In February we took the decision to strip it down to the chassis and restore it completely. Indeed it showed to be less sexy underneath than it looked outside with the driving train in poor condition and everything about plastic and rubber built… gone. The Bugatti spent most of its life in Kuwait and looked to have suffered from this period.

Art & Revs has successfully restored race cars from the 1960s to the 2010s, but how about a Supercar ? Well first of all we love them, any of them and with our deep experience with race cars, their special parts re-fabrication, forgotten engineering and time-consuming projects, it didn’t look impossible at all. The car is sophisticated, complex but extremely well engineered. However, using the best possible period technologies and material, it was clearly built with no expenses spared. Priced more than twice of a Testarossa in 1992, make sure the Bugatti was worth every single penny.

When we took the decision in March to enter it to The Quail on August 18th, we knew time would run out fast: there was a race to win there. Every single part of the car was meticulously verified, cleaned and restored. We paid a huge attention to original metal treatments and material, with the needed parts sourced rapidly ( some suppliers are still around), we knew we could make it. After receiving the chassis and body back from the bodyworker in late June, the fun started on July 9th exactly a month from now with the reassembly. With all sub assemblies ready to be fitted we managed to complete it in only four weeks.

It was quite a big moment to start the engine for the first time and bring the car back to life after 17 years. The road test went pretty well, so don’t be surprised if you see it running in the streets of Carmel next week.

We will post more soon about this fabulous project. By the way if you own an EB110 GT and look for a fuel tank change, a complete service or restoration, now you got an address !