De La Chapelle

Overview

De La Chapelle is a French boutique manufacturer of luxury sports cars and Grand Tourers. Originally founded in 1907, the brand is celebrated in modern automotive history for its ultra-exclusive, hand-built "neo-retro" creations, high-fidelity official Bugatti recreations, and hyper-luxury bespoke vehicles.

Company Type: Independent Boutique Automobilist / Coachbuilder
Founded: 1907 (Original), 1975 (Revived by Xavier de La Chapelle)
Headquarters: Lyon / Saint-Chamond, France
Core Philosophy: Merging the timeless, organic aesthetic of the Golden Age of French automotive design (the 1930s) with modern powertrain mechanics, chassis engineering, and bespoke luxury.
Production Status: Ultra-low-volume artisan production, operating strictly on a made-to-order, highly customizable commission basis.

Development History

The Early Era (1907–1923)

The automotive lineage began in Lyon, France, when brothers Guy and Carl de La Chapelle founded the brand. They initially produced high-quality, lightweight motor vehicles and motorcycles under the Stimula name. Production ground to a halt during World War I when the brothers were called to military service, and economic post-war hardships led to the permanent closure of the factory in 1923.

The Modern Revival (1975–Present)

In 1975, Xavier de La Chapelle, the great-nephew of the original founders, revived the brand at just 26 years old. Recognizing the burgeoning market for classic aesthetics paired with dependable modern mechanicals, he shifted the company’s focus toward the ultra-luxury Neo-Retro segment.

The brand achieved legendary status in 1978 with the launch of the Type 55. The vehicle was so masterfully engineered and aesthetically precise that Messier-Bugatti (the custodians of the Bugatti trademark at the time) granted De La Chapelle the historic, official right to affix the genuine Bugatti "EB" emblem to their cars.

Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, the company experimented with radical concepts—including avant-garde luxury multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs)—before refocusing on artisan-built V8 sports cars and ultra-high-end scale collector models in the 21st century.

Product Portfolio

De La Chapelle’s portfolio spans four distinct automotive categories:

I. Neo-Classic Roadsters

De La Chapelle Type 55 (Series I - V): The brand's signature model. Visually an exact, hand-formed recreation of the legendary 1932 Bugatti Type 55 Roadster. Underneath its pre-war skin, it features modern independent suspension and is powered by reliable BMW inline-6 engines (including high-performance Alpina-tuned variants).
Atalante V8 (Series 6): The brand's modern masterpiece, drawing styling cues from the ultra-rare 1930s Bugatti Type 57S Atalante Coupé. Abandoning the inline-6, the current generation utilizes a heavy-displacement V8 engine and is strictly limited to 7 hand-built bespoke commissions worldwide.
Grand Prix: A single-seater open-wheel classic racer recreation built for driving enthusiasts seeking a visceral, vintage track-day experience.

II. The Luxury MPV Radical Experiment

Parcours PC12 (1988): A legendary anomaly in automotive history. De La Chapelle built an ultra-luxury, full-sized van designed to mimic a private jet on wheels. It featured advanced pneumatic suspension, 4WD, custom leather and woodwork, and was powered by a Mercedes-Benz V12 (or Jaguar V12) engine, making it one of the most powerful and exclusive MPVs ever conceived.

III. The "Junior" Collector Series

De La Chapelle commands a massive reputation in the international elite collector community for its 1:0.6 scale junior cars. These are not toys, but meticulously shrunken, operational petrol-powered cars built with the exact same leather, wood, chrome, and artisan paint finishes as real luxury automobiles:

Bugatti Type 55 Junior

BMW 328 Junior

Ferrari 330 P2 Junior

Market and Cultural Impact

High-End Collectibility: Because production numbers for full-sized roadsters are kept extremely low (often in the single or double digits per series), De La Chapelle vehicles rarely appear on the open market. When they do arrive at premier international auction houses like RM Sotheby’s or Artcurial, well-maintained Type 55 models routinely fetch prices approaching or exceeding €100,000.

The "Official Copy" Paradox: De La Chapelle occupies a unique legal and cultural space in automotive history. While technically "recreations," their peerless build quality earned them unprecedented blessing from original manufacturer trademark holders, removing them entirely from the realm of ordinary "kit cars" and solidifying them as authentic French industrial art.