Ettore Bugatti
1931 Bugatti Type 41 Royale Convertible · chassis 41121
Photo details
Joyride serves the 2,047 × 1,356 Commons original JPEG byte-for-byte. No crop, resize, retouching, metadata removal, generation or vehicle reconstruction; responsive presentation may crop displayed edges.
Photo details
Joyride serves the current 3,328 × 4,723 Commons JPEG byte-for-byte. Commons history records a higher-resolution replacement before the current file; Joyride made no crop, resize, retouching, metadata removal or generation. A responsive frame may crop displayed edges. This identification portrait remains separate from Joe Ross’s 2016 photograph of chassis 41121.
The maker is known. The later repairs matter too.
- Connection
- Creator and manufacturer · not ownership
- When
- Royale development from 1926 · chassis 41121 completed in 1931 · later museum history documented
- Identity
- 1931 Bugatti Type 41 Royale convertible · chassis 41121 · Weinberger body · The Henry Ford object 58.86.1
Bugatti’s factory history calls the Type 41 Royale the culmination of Ettore Bugatti’s creation. The project began with a prototype in 1926, and Bugatti says Ettore invested heavily in developing a car intended to eclipse every rival in size, power and luxury. That creator association is the boundary of this story: no source reviewed here says Ettore personally owned chassis 41121.
The Henry Ford’s collection record identifies the individual survivor as a 1931 Type 41 Royale convertible, object 58.86.1. Its engine plate records chassis 41121, the museum names Ettore Bugatti as maker, and it credits Ludwig Weinberger’s Munich workshop with the body. The same record lists a 779-cubic-inch overhead-cam inline eight, three-speed manual transmission and 300 horsepower, but those are museum-record specifications for the surviving car—not a promise that every component remains as built or that another Royale shared the same body.
Later history changed the object. The Henry Ford says Buick chief engineer Charles Chayne recovered 41121 from a New York-area salvage yard after winter ice cracked its engine block, repaired the engine, replaced the interior and updated the carburetion and brakes. Chayne and his wife Esther donated it to The Henry Ford in 1958. Joe Ross photographed that actual chassis at the museum in 2016 under CC BY-SA 2.0; the museum now marks the car as not on public exhibit, so Joyride makes no current-display promise.
Where the car went next
- 1926Ettore’s Royale prototype
Bugatti dates the first prototype to 1926 and describes the Type 41 as the culmination of Ettore Bugatti’s creation.
- 1931Chassis 41121 is completed
The Henry Ford identifies the individual convertible as a 1931 Bugatti chassis with a Weinberger body and chassis number 41121.
- 1937The Fuchs car reaches America
The museum records that German physician Josef Fuchs brought the car to the United States in 1937; this does not establish Ettore Bugatti as an owner.
- 1943–1949Chayne repairs and updates it
Charles Chayne recovered the ice-damaged car, repaired its engine, replaced its interior and updated its carburetion and brakes.
- 1958Gift to The Henry Ford
Charles and Esther Chayne donated chassis 41121 to The Henry Ford.
- Record reviewed October 7, 2026Museum-held, not promised on view
The Henry Ford’s current object record retains chassis 41121 in its collection and marks it as not on exhibit to the public.
Sources for this story
Bugatti documents Ettore’s Type 41 development and the six-car Royale program. The Henry Ford identifies object 58.86.1 as 1931 chassis 41121, names Ettore Bugatti as maker and Weinberger as body maker, and records the later Chayne repair, interior replacement, carburetion and brake updates, and 1958 museum gift. No Ettore ownership of 41121, untouched factory condition, matching-numbers claim, unmodified specification, current public display, complete Royale-family coverage, exact Joyride catalog match or compatible game representation is claimed.
- Bugatti Legends Type 41 La Royale — A royal vehicleBugatti · 2020-04-09 · external source
Ettore Bugatti’s development role, the 1926 prototype, Type 41 engineering context, six-car production and the distinction between Bugatti chassis and independent coachwork.
- 1931 Bugatti Type 41 Royale ConvertibleThe Henry Ford · Collection record · reviewed 2026-10-07 · external source
Object 58.86.1, 1931 date, chassis 41121 inscription, Ettore Bugatti maker credit, Weinberger body credit, dimensions and museum-record specifications, Chayne gift, and not-on-exhibit status.
- Charles A. Chayne with 1931 Bugatti Royale, 1943–1945The Henry Ford · Collection record · reviewed 2026-10-07 · external source
Chayne’s salvage-yard acquisition of 41121, cracked engine block, engine repair, replacement interior, carburetion and brake updates, and 1958 donation.
Reviewed
Why this is the actual car
- Photo identity evidence
Joe Ross identifies the February 22, 2016 photograph as The Henry Ford’s 1931 Bugatti Type 41 Royale; Commons categorizes it as the museum’s Weinberger cabriolet, chassis 41-121, and confirms CC BY-SA 2.0.
- Photo identity evidence
The museum’s object record identifies the individual car as object 58.86.1, 1931 Bugatti Type 41 Royale convertible, with chassis number 41121 and Weinberger body.
The matching photographer, venue, date and vehicle history establish the identification; the chassis stamp is not visible in these photographs.