Bugatti sells some of the planet's fastest, most expensive, and most exclusive cars. For decades, the French automaker has produced cars that have reshaped performance standards, set world records, and pushed the bounds of the most exclusive segment in the automotive world. While Bugatti's cars from the last two decades have mostly been remixes of either the Veyron or Chiron, they have a few things in common - they've all been two-door hypercars chasing enormous top speeds.
However, before Bugatti shocked the world with the Veyron - the world's first 1,000-hp car, it had teased the idea of a ludicrous sedan with an eighteen-cylinder engine up front, and it seemed as if Bugatti would imminently apply its hypercar formula to the super-luxury sedan template. It never happened, but a pair of awesome concept cars - a coupe and a sedan - reminds us of what could have been.
This article focuses on the Bugatti EB 118 and Bugatti EB 218 concept cars, which never reached production. The Bugatti 16C Galibier sedan concept only appeared more than a decade later in 2009, after the Veyron had already been on sale for several years, so it's not included here.
Bugatti tabled two concepts in the late '90s, but for now, let's focus on the concept car that debuted at the 1998 Paris Auto Show: the Bugatti EB 118. This two-door hatchback coupe was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, famed automotive designer and founder of the hallowed design studio Italdesign. Giugiaro designed some of the world's most visually striking cars, like the Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB Speciale Bertone, Lotus Espirit, DMC DeLorean, and more. In fact, the 250 GT Berlinetta SWB made it onto our list of the ten best-looking cars of all time.
Although not resembling any of the models available at the time, like the EB 110, which was the world's first modern hypercar, or the Bugatti Veyron that would debut a few years later, the EB 118's left-field styling was the result of its design being inspired by the 1931 Bugatti Type 50 and the Bugatti 57SC Atlantic. The inspiration from the 57SC Atlantic was more palpable and pronounced, given that its flanks were punctuated by grilles behind the front wheels and a faint longitudinal rib running down the middle of the car over the roof that served as a nod to the classic Bugatti model.
While its styling was enough to warrant a quick double take, what was hidden beneath its long hood was undoubtedly the defining feature of the Bugatti EB 118. That characterizing element was Volkswagen's naturally aspirated 6.25-liter W18 engine, which produced 555 hp and 479 lb-ft, enough to make it one of the most powerful coupes of the '90s. Well, that's if it ever made it to production.
This was the first passenger car to employ the colossal eighteen-cylinder engine, and it's different from Bugatti's modern W16 engine in that it comprises three banks of six inline cylinders, and not the staggered two-bank arrangement that the VW Group's other W-designated engines use by dint of being related to the VW VR engine family. The hulking power unit was proposed to be paired with a five-speed automatic transmission, and its 555 hp was directed to all four corners of the 4,800-pound coupe through a permanent four-wheel-drive system inherited from the Lamborghini Diablo VT. It was an impressive machine that would be sent back to the operating table.
Only a year after the EB 118's debut, Bugatti introduced another concept: a sedan powered by the same W18 engine. The Bugatti EB 218 was an evolution and re-imagining of the EB 112 introduced in 1993. Let's talk about the Bugatti EB 112, because it plays an important role in the EB 218's story. This concept was unveiled at the 1993 Geneva Motor Show. A 6.0-liter V12 engine was its source of forward momentum paired to a six-speed manual. It was a ludicrous concept of which only a handful of examples would be conceived and three sold off after Bugatti went bankrupt in 1995, despite Roman Artioli's best efforts to save Bugatti. Three unfinished examples of the Bugatti EB 112 would be sold to Gildo Pallance Pastor, who would have those examples finished by the Monaco Racing Team in 1998, each featuring bespoke styling enhancements and aero features.