1931 Bugatti Type 41 Coupe de Ville

The Type 41 Royale, with a chassis price of $30,000, was launched as the world slipped into the Great Depression. Just six of these cars were built between 1929 and 1933 and only three were sold to customers. All of the production Royales still exist today, although the prototype was destroyed in 1931. Each has a different body style, some having been re-bodied several times. This is the first of the production Royales. The car was ordered without headlights as its owner, textile industrialist Armand Esders, did not intend to drive at night! After Esders sold the car, the chassis received this new Coupe de Ville body built by Henri Binder in the style of the Coupe Napoleon that was owned by Ettore Bugatti himself.