1930 Bugatti bicycle (Stadion)

1930 Bugatti bicycle

Replica – 1930 Stadion with Bugatti chainwheel

22.5″ Frame

28″ Wheels

 

Bugatti cars were very popular in Czechoslovakia as a result of Eliška Junková’s racing successes. So, after Franz Brauner bought the Stadion cycle company, he decided to capitalize on the popularity of the brand, and in 1929 he named his new Stadion bicycle model the Bugatti!

You can see it illustrated in the 1929 Stadion catalogue, along with the Bugatti chainwheel.

Unfortunately for him, Ettore Bugatti heard about it and served Brauner with an injunction. Brauner initially won the case by pointing out that Bugatti built cars not bicycles, but after an appeal by Bugatti, the court agreed that it was a trademark infringement, and in 1931 Brauner changed the model name from ‘Bugatti’ to ‘Buga.’

There are no known surviving examples of the Stadion Bugatti. So this one was created by using a 1930 Stadion bicycle in original unrestored condition, fitted with a Bugatti chainwheel created by the EFBE company.

Bugatti has recently teamed up with Factor bicycles to create the ‘Factor One’ which is a limited production model priced at £22,000. Even though this 96-year-old bicycle is a replica Bugatti, I much prefer vintage bicycles to new ones, so it’s a much more practical addition to the stable.

 

1929 STADION CATALOGUE EXTRACTS

JAN KRALIK’S ARTICLE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CYCLE HISTORY CONFERENCE

 

 

Bugatti advertisement (top of page) with thanks to https://newsroom.bugatti.com/