Joseph FigoniLe Grand Couturier de la Carrosserie AutomobileVolumes II, III and IV: Bugatti By Peter M. Larsen and Ben Erickson This book was announced before, but has since been seriously been impoved and expanded! Brace yourself for the fascinating story about how the Carrosserie Joseph Figoni worked closely with Bugatti in Paris in the 1920s as well as the first showings of Figoni coachwork at the Paris Salons and concours d’élégance. It is an absorbing account of how French luxury cars were built, sold and marketed in the City of Light before the tsunami of the Great Depression. Who the movers and shakers were, and the conflicts that arose when business interests clashed. Also explored is the Bugatti sales empire built by businessman Étienne Bunau-Varilla, an empire that for some crucial years regarded the Carrosserie Joseph Figoni as a favored coachbuilder, thereby putting Figoni on the map as a leading carrossier in Paris. But it was also an enterprise that grew to the point where Ettore Bugatti could no longer live with the power that Bunau-Varilla exerted over the factory in Alsace. Click here for a presentation by Peter Larsen on this subject, held at the Bugatti Trust in 2024. The resulting divorce is described in detail, including how things subsequently fell apart in Paris due to the rickety sales structure which Ettore Bugatti then established. The casualties were many. Not least Joseph Figoni and his coachbuilding operation, as well as a number of his competitors. All copiously illustrated with period images, documentation and brochure material. Extraordinary source material from the Figoni and Bugatti archives has provided a wealth of new information. As a result, many previously unknown Bugattis have been identified. Many never-before-seen images are included, including engaging and detailed profile renderings by the late Gerrit-Jan Caviët. It is a gripping panorama across three volumes with chassis-by-chassis descriptions of 113 Bugattis that passed through the Figoni works from 1925 to 1939. Born of the jazz age, these were extraordinary cars of a bygone era. Figoni finished the last Bugatti carrosserie mere months before the outbreak of World War II. Nothing would ever be the same.
PLEASE NOTE: in the Figoni series, Volume I was Alfa-Romeo. The three volumes in the Bugatti set are therefore numbered Volume II, III and IV.
Well... what can I say about a book that has already won the motoring book of the year award, and is nominated for the Historic Motoring Awards. It is indeed an impressive set of 3 books, very beautifully designed and printed. Very well researched with all possible history on Figoni, quite a few non-Bugatti's with Figoni bodywork and even a series of T35's, that were under maintenance at Figoni. Full history on each Bugatti which received a Figoni body, with reprints of the factory listings both from Bugatti as well as the workshop orders at Figoni. Naturally, for some cars the listings is the only thing available, and the first owner also, but photographs of some of the cars are not available. On the other hand, for some of the Bugatti's there's a load of photographs and futher information. Finally, there is a whole chapter on Faux-goni's. Bugatti's with bodies that were at some time attributed to Figoni, but that can not be proven to really be Figoni's. In short: loads of well written information, many nice period photographs and drawings by Gerrit-Jan Caviët. It seems that the early 1920's Bugatti sales empire built by businessman Étienne Bunau-Varilla has been described here for the first time in a lot of detail, which is extremely interesting reading for the Bugattiste. If you have an hour, you can of course also watch the lecture held by Peter Larsen mentioned before. Finally: Is such a book worth 650 euro? The quality is excellent, though if you want to buy it is up to yourself....
 Summer of 1933: the Comtesse de Rivals-Mazéres presenting a gorgeous Figoni-bodied Type 55 in the Bois de Boulogne.
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19-11-2025
Review by Jaap Horst 5-10-2025
