Royle

[josh0855]

Does anyone know for relitive certinity how many type 41 Royle were built *not how many made it through the start of the war and ettroe's need to moove fast* how many origionaly built?

[skiff]

6 Royales have been built originally, but the prototype has seen 4 different housings on top (gee, forgot the word for that) and 1 version has also been rebuilt.

[DivineF1]

Yep, six chassis with one being rebuilt.

The first prototype was fitted with a Packard touring car body and was crashed by Ettore on his way to Molsheim (he had fallen asleep).

That car was rebuilt as a coupe (the Coupe Napoleon) and was used by the members of the Bugatti family.

One of the few people who actually bought a Royale was Armand Esders (I think he was a clothing manufacturer). The car had no headlambs cause the owner never drove at night.

The chassis of that car was later rebodies with a coupe by Binder.

The last delivery was made by a British fella (I can't remember his name). The chassis of that car was a Park Ward limousine body.

The last two Type 41s were not sold. One had a Kellner sedan body and the other a Berline de Voyage body - they were only sold after the war.

So we have a sum of 6 chassis (one rebuilt) and 11 bodies.

[skiff]

Now one thing that keeps coming into my mind:

The first prototype was longer than the "production version". Did Ettore shorten it after the crash, or leave it alone.

Same question for the cylinder volume....

I have a book about the Royales, with pictures of every body (yes, regained the word ). It is in French, I read about 75% of the book (I am a slow reader in French, not my native language, and understand just 80% of it).

for what I understood, the prototype chassic was equipped with 4 different bodies, and only then destroyed. Then things do not turn out clear: Either the chassis was repaired, and equiped with the Coupe de Napoleon body, or the prototype was scrapped completely, and a new chassis was equipped with THE SAME chassis number as the first prototype, and equipped with the Napoleon body. I do not know this.

Thereafter the Royale Esders (the one with no headlights, and inspired on the Type 55) was equipped with a Napoleon Look-a-like body, and the Esders body, carefully packed in wooden boxes, was destroyed in the war. To my opinion, this was the most beautiful Royale ever built (a replica exists in the Musee Nationale Automobile in Mulhouse (former Schlumpf Collection)

[Duesey]

Well, 6 Royales were built, but 25 engines were built, in anticipation of 25 cars. THe failed experiment almost out Bugatti out of business, but he saved himself with AutoRail, passenger trains that had the Royales engine. In the end he ended up making 50 Royale I8's.