sunken bugatti sold at auction

[moparstuart]

http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/article/sunken-bugatti-sells-in-italy/


Sunken Bugatti sells in titanic biddingJanuary 26, 2010

A Bugatti Type 22 Brescia that had lain submerged in a lake for over 70 years sold for $368,600 at an auction Saturday in Paris.

[Aero426]

The pics of it being brought up were cool. 

[b5blue]

Thanks this is very cool! 

[PocketThunder]

Wow! the first diver found it in 1967 and it wasnt pulled up till recently!  I'd think someone along the way would have made an effort to go get it a long time ago.  Or were Bigatti's run of the mill cars back in the 70's like our old mopars... ?          

[moparstuart]

 its really amazing there is anything left of the car after 70 years at the bottom of a lake  ?

[Ponch ®]

i thought it was the Veyron from a couple of months ago....

[moparstuart]

i thought it was the Veyron from a couple of months ago....

i'll take a million dollar veyron   

[tan top]

intresting for sure , but them sort of cars dont do nothing for me  
not wanting to wreck your thread Stuart , reminds me of the thread on here or might of been on the old site , of a couple of Hemi cars one of which were supposedly found  at the bottom of a flooded quarry

[Nacho-RT74]

http://www.huetbrothers.com/HBNews/46/Sunken_Bugatti_of_Lago_Maggiore.html

http://bugattipage.com/#News

January 24, 2010
Sunken Bugatti Relic fetches 260,500 Euro at Bonham's

Over the course of the past few months the Brescia sold at the Bonham's sale last night has become one of the most celebrated of all Bugattis. Having lain submerged beneath the waters of Lake Maggiore in Switzerland for more than 70 years it Remained under the water , undiscovered, until 18th August 1967 .The ship-wreck of a Bugatti became a popular target for members of the local sub aqua club. On 12th July 2009, after a 73-year sojourn in Lake Maggiore the Bugatti was finally rescued from the lake. The catalog said it would, of course, be possible to restore the car with an estimate that only some 20% of the original is reusable. I doubted that.

I examined the car with a number of other Bugatti owners and experts prior to the sale. It created a lot of interest as it was actually no longer a Bugatti but a rusted and fused together lump of various metals that had been abandoned underwater for 70 years. It was once a Bugatti, now it is a different constitution. Much like a moon rock that has left the moon, or a temple that has only a footprint left, it is now the remains of something once known by history. The titanic once was a boat, but no longer exist in that form, hence it is now the remains of history - merely DNA.

This Bugatti is the same. It is no longer a Bugatti but the end results of time and a story. So, could it be restored? The answer is no, it can not. The metal, submerged for this time is not only rotten, but it has lost it's ability to function as a metal used in a car. The atomic structure of all that metal has changed with some of the metals fusing together, and other metals remaining in the shape of the original car components. Once disturbed from it's current '' reef material condition'' , this once Brescia will never be able to be a car again. Of course, someone can reconstruct it using all new parts, and assuming the indentity , but that illusion will be forever false merely because of the process of decomposition induced by water , time, and dissimilar ferrous metals disintegrating.

Fellow Bugatti talked over the champagne that flowed before the Bonham's auction. Who would buy this ship wreck of a once upon a time Bugatti? The rumor was Peter Mullin...maybe Evert Louwman ? It maybe could go for 90,000 Euro just for the story hype. Who's Museum would house this sunken treasure? Visions of the installation of a large fish tank in the lobby of the winning bid's Museum danced as we discussed the possibilities. Even a Swiss watchmaker suggested that pieces of it be machined down to watch size pieces, into a series of a Bugatti watches ! A story spinning a underwater story capable of Jacques-Yves Cousteau proportions.

Then, more practical Bugattist ventured into the real value discussions. If you replaced every part, the mere identity could fetch a want-to-be restorer a catch at 50.000 Euro. But that could barely make sense of such a restoration expenditure. Well, everyone had an opinion. The end result on Saturday night was the remains of the dead Bugatti fetching a record, astonishing price of 260,500 Euro ( $368,300). So much for the idea of any re-construction! It is clear that it will remain in it's precise static state of wonder, likely on public display, and part of the Bugatti allure for decades to come. Well, it is now time to continue to search the Metro tunnels of Paris for that lost Royale.......

Chris Gardner

[Nacho-RT74]

I think this guy was on some similar problem with customs and his Bugatti and tried to sunk it too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5_MQtFz220

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-45s1zScPUY

[Tilar]

its really amazing there is anything left of the car after 70 years at the bottom of a lake  ?

I would imagine very little to no oxygen at the bottom of a lake. I remember when I was a kid, You would hear reports of people finding model T's at the bottom of Lake Erie. During the winter the lake would freeze over and people would drive across into canada.

[ITSA426]

I don't know why but my mind went to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang when I saw the picture.

[bakerhillpins]

I would imagine very little to no oxygen at the bottom of a lake. I remember when I was a kid, You would hear reports of people finding model T's at the bottom of Lake Erie. During the winter the lake would freeze over and people would drive across into canada.

Kinda like that Russian T-34 tank that was in a thread a while back.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,21282.0.html

The driving into Canada over ice was very popular during prohibition for obvious reasons, I suspect there were quite a few losses due to ice and/or it was cheaper to dump the shipment than get busted? 

[nh_mopar_fan]

Guy I know up the lake dives.

He found a 1929-1930 Olds.

Links to pics are in the first post.

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1598

[Tilar]

Guy I know up the lake dives.

He found a 1929-1930 Olds.

Links to pics are in the first post.

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1598

Man that is a cool story! Thanks for linking that.

[Smokey Bear]

That's insane. It the photo it looks plausible that it could achieve a high price, but the video shows them spinning the car around and the whole right side is missing! Cool story though. It reminds me of the Mopar Action story about the 340 roadrunner that was stolen and driven into a lake and sat there for 30 years. Very cool car - double white with red stripes.

[Mike DC]

That thing survived pretty well. 

Compare it to the beating that the buried Tulsa Plymouth took, and that was just 50 years of intermittent ground-water. 




I don't understand the $368,000 price though.  It looks like you're mostly buying the rights to slap that car's serial number onto a reconstruction.

     

[tan top]

That's insane. It the photo it looks plausible that it could achieve a high price, but the video shows them spinning the car around and the whole right side is missing! Cool story though. It reminds me of the Mopar Action story about the 340 roadrunner that was stolen and driven into a lake and sat there for 30 years. Very cool car - double white with red stripes.

oh right SB sounds a intresting story about the roadrunner , any pictures etc

[89MOPAR]

 And who got the money paid for the vehicle ??  Hmmmn

[rustafarian]

Mopar Collectors Guide ran that RoadRunner story several years ago.  A couple fisherman saw the thing on the bottom of a flooded sand pit,  I think,  police got involved in case there was a body in there.  No record of the car ever being at the dealership it came from,  just a good fish tale with pix.

[tan top]

Mopar Collectors Guide ran that RoadRunner story several years ago.  A couple fisherman saw the thing on the bottom of a flooded sand pit,  I think,  police got involved in case there was a body in there.  No record of the car ever being at the dealership it came from,  just a good fish tale with pix.

    thanks  dude  for the reply &  sharing the story    would like to have seen that picture !!  yeah a fishermans tail all right ,  if the  roadrunner  was a barracuda instead    ok , i tried to be funny but it did not work