Inside the Bugatti Bubble

The marque’s Molsheim Experience lets you glamp under the stars, view rare classics and sip vintage champagne.

- Basem Wasef

IN THE WEE hours of a balmy summer night in Molsheim, France, I view Jupiter glowing high in the evening sky from the grounds of Château St Jean, which has anchored these roughly 6.9 hectares for the past 165 years. I’m staying overnight in the shadow of this storybook residence, purchased in 1928 by Ettore Bugatti, founder of the renowned French automaker. In the modern era, such a stay has never been available to anyone save the staff who guard the estate – an opportunity so rare, so tightly controlled, it requires leaving my passport at the security gate. Welcome to the Bugatti bubble.

The brand’s headquarters weren’t always off limits: Ettore was known to host clients before they took delivery of their vehicles. Guests could also stay at Bugatti’s nearby Pur Sang hotel, as did model, dancer and Grand Prix racer Hellé Nice when she took possession of her custom-built Type 35C racer in 1929.