LEFT IDLING
Inside abandoned Bugatti factory – once made some of world’s most expensive cars before being left to rot for 30 years
This dusty building was once home to the Bugatti EB110, the brand's revival supercar
AN ABANDONED Bugatti factory has been uncovered in northern Italy - and it's like stepping into a ghost story.
It may look intact from the outside, but inside it's dusty and full of bricks, manuals, paint bottles and old car parts - a clear sign of how far the iconic brand has fallen.
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The glass-walled building, which has been virtually untouched since 1995, was once the birthplace of the EB110 - a supercar meant to bring the legendary brand back to life.
The Bugatti factory was brought into the spotlight after content creator 'Decaying Midwest' shared his visit in a video with over eight million views.
The video shows a factory frozen in time, with empty halls, rooms and a spinning car showroom.
The 24-year-old content creator from Chicago found a Volvo instruction manual inside and bottles of original paint.
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Part of the factory shown in the video resembles a construction site, as Bugatti had tried to demolish the building but ran out of money due to bankruptcy.
The factory in Campogalliano, Italy closed down in 1995, after Bugatti went bankrupt that same year.
Bugatti had been struggling for decades before but in 1987, Italian entrepreneur Romano Artoli bought the company with the intent to revive it and create the ultimate supercar, the EB110.
As a result, the French luxury sports car brand's operations were headquartered in Italy.
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Artoli built this state-of-the-art factory in 1990, naming it "La Fabbrica Blu" (The Blue Factory).
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“The place was mostly demolished but very cool,” Decaying Midwest told
One social media user commented: “I’ve always seen it from the highway, and I was wondering how it was on the inside Mind Blowing.”
Another wrote: “That place must have been absolutely insane in its prime.”
“Oh, this could be the set for a dystopian movie like in the 2010s,” added another.
It comes as an ultra rare Bugatti Centodieci with a top speed of 236mph and just 272 miles on the clock recently received a bid of $9 million at the RM Sotheby’s Paris auction.
The 2022 car is one of just ten examples produced - a homage to the iconic EB110 series of the 1990s.
In June, Bugatti unveiled its new £3.2 million hybrid hypercar "masterpiece" which boasts 1,800 horsepower.
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The Tourbillon, named after the mechanism that maintains accuracy in high-end watches, arrives exactly 20 years after the launch of the Veyron, which was the most powerful road car of its time.
That car's successor, the Bugatti Chiron, launched in 2016 and has now ended production in preparation for the new car to be built from 2026.
The history of Bugatti
- 1909: Bugatti was founded by Ettore Bugatti in Molsheim, France.
- 1920s-1930s: Bugatti became famous for luxury cars and racing cars, like the Type 35 and Type 41 Royale.
- 1939: Ettore Bugatti died, and the company struggled, especially during WWII.
- 1950s-1960s: Bugatti faced financial problems and disappeared for a while.
- 1987: Italian entrepreneur Romano Artioli revived Bugatti and built the EB110 supercar.
- 1995: The company went bankrupt, and the EB110 ended production.
- 1998: Volkswagen bought Bugatti and brought it back to life.
- 2005: The Bugatti Veyron was launched, becoming one of the fastest and most expensive cars.
- 2016: The Chiron was launched, the successor to the Veyron.
- 2021: Bugatti partnered with Rimac to focus on electric hypercars.
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