Ettore Bugatti, the automaker, applied automotive engineering to rail travel with the Bugatti Autorail, a railcar built over 90 years ago that used four car engines and car-inspired aerodynamics to reach roughly twice the speed of France’s existing passenger trains.
The Autorail was developed in the 1920s and 1930s when rail travel still dominated and automobiles and aircraft were emerging as competing modes, while roads and early commercial flights remained limited in reliability and comfort.
Bugatti’s design sought to address steam-era constraints such as frequent refueling and slow stretches by using multiple internal-combustion engines and streamlined bodywork to achieve higher sustained speeds than contemporary steam services.
The Bugatti Autorail remains a notable early experiment in applying car technology to trains and illustrates how automotive design influenced rail innovation in the 1920s and 1930s.
This report is based on information originally published by The Autopian.
Read the full article at The Autopian.
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