Why did Ettore Bugatti refuse to sell a Bugatti Royale to King Zog?

Zbeckabee

Intended for royalty, none were eventually sold to any royals, and Bugatti even refused to sell one to King Zog of Albania, claiming that "the man's table manners are beyond belief!" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti_Royale Oct 19 10, 6:51 PM

dsimpy

Also known as the Bugatti Type 41, Ettore Bugatti originally planned to make 25 of these individually tailored cars, retailing for $30,000 - but eventually only 6 were made between 1929-33, and of these only 3 were sold. With an overall length of 21' and an engine of between 275-300 horse power they are among the longest and most powerful road cars ever produced. One of them was in fact sold (as Bugatti intended they all should be) to a royal - King Michael I of Romania - during World War II, but it was never delivered and as King Michael abdicated at the behest of Romania's communist regime in 1947 and was exiled, he was presumably not in a position to follow up on the order. That car was hidden from the Nazis in the Paris sewers, and others were bricked up to conceal them from Nazi treasure hunters too. While the ostensible reason for Bugatti's refusal to sell King Zog one of the cars is historically given as the issue of his table manners, I would postulate another possible reason. Zog was the subject of 55 assassination attempts, including one as he arrived at the Vienna State Opera to see a performance of Pagliacci. The assassin struck as Zog climbed out of his car, but Zog drew his personal pistol and fired back - the only occasion in modern history that a Head of State has personally fired on a potential assassin. Could it have been that Ettore Bugatti, immensely proud and protective of his luxury cars, simply didn't want one in the hands of someone who was very likely to have it shot up and peppered with lead in the next assassination bid? Compelling, huh? http://www.automotoportal.com/article/bugatti-royale-largest-car-in-the-world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zog_of_Albania Oct 20 10, 4:23 AM