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New: Events (November 21)
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Please resend any e-mails sent the last month or so (or earlier if you did not receive a reply, my former address worked very badly for a long while!
New: Bugatti Legends book new 2nd edition! (October 21)
New: Bugatti parts offered original factory doors (October 19)
New: Bugatti book for sale in the BugattiPage bookstore (October 18)
New: Bugatti Miniatures news (October 17)
New: Bugatti parts wanted (September 27)
New book: The fate of the sleeping beauties English edition (September 24)
New: issue of the Bugatti revue (August 22)
New: Bugattis wanted (August 4)
New: Bugatti miniatures for sale in the BugattiPage modelstore (July 6)
New: Impressive artwork By Peter McGann (May 5)
New book: 100 Ans d'Innovations et d'Excellence (May 2)
New: Bugatti miniatures: English instructions for Fuman kit (March 28)
New: Bugatti books for sale (March 25)
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Picture Sheets of the Bugattis, per Catagory
Information on the Bugatti types is also included!
This site was missed since 2001, I put it back on line, thanks to Pascal van Mele, the version is of January 2001!
Especially the the Hunting for Bugatti Information, "Everything Bugatti" (articles) and the Bugatti cars database are of the most interest, but you will find much more!!!
However, of course Jacob does not respond to mails anymore, some older links may not work, the Pim Faber books, models and stamps databases do not work, and the Hunting Bugatti Questions are not followed up. As a service, I will post all answers to his existing questions on my pages, new questions will be published on my site also!
Books
Well, you possibly already thought that rumour a bit too far-flung, though the evidence seems very clear. Instead of still another Veyron version, it is just a Veyron owner who was toying too much with his cell-phone, to keep his Bugatti on the road! Of course one possibility is to keep the car submerged for 80 years, and then hoist the remains of a classics Bugatti from the water. If this car can be salvaged? Probably a good deal for Bugatti's spare parts department!
LA MARQUE, Texas -- A man blamed a low-flying pelican and a dropped cell phone for his veering his million-dollar sports car off a road and into a salt marsh near Galveston.
The accident happened about 3 p.m. Wednesday on the frontage road of Interstate 45 northbound in La Marque, about 35 miles southeast of Houston.
The Lufkin, Texas, man told of driving his luxury, French-built Bugatti Veyron when the bird distracted him, said La Marque police Lt. Greg Gilchrist.
The motorist dropped his cell phone, reached to pick it up and veered off the road and into the salt marsh. The car was half-submerged in the brine about 20 feet from the road when police arrived.
Gilchrist said he doesn't know if the car was salvageable, but in his words, "Salt water isn't good for anything." He says the man, whose identity hasn't been released, was not injured.
From: Click2Houston.com
John O'Quinn knew the law, a simple fact never in doubt. But before he cracked a legal text or saw the inside of a courtroom, he knew something else — cars.
O'Quinn's education began when he was 10 years old, courtesy of his father's humid garage, where he spent afternoons and weekends until he finished high school. Decades later, after his 60th birthday, it resumed at a classic car auction in Katy and continued until the prominent Houston litigator died in a car accident last week, when he had invited an overseas expert and a film crew to witness the rebirth of one of the great novelties of his vast collection: the oldest existing working automobile.
Starting on that day in 2003 when he purchased 14 cars at his first auction, O'Quinn became a towering figure in the world of automotive collecting. He amassed a collection that numbers more than 800 vehicles, from the overtly silly Batmobile to a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow once owned by a maharaja.
Only one figure in American history, casino magnate Bill Harrah, had put together anything approaching O'Quinn's collection, and it seemed fitting that a number of the late Harrah's cars now reside in one of O'Quinn's Houston warehouses.
“In the sheer number of significant cars, I don't think there has ever been one like this,” said Ken Dougherty, owner of a Houston company that buys, sells and restores classic cars and an early adviser when O'Quinn took up the hobby. “There are other nice collections, but they are usually oriented towards one particular car or period. He bought across the board. He had everything. There was not a single type of car he did not have. He could send cars to any event that was specializing in any genre and they really wouldn't have to ask anyone else.”
Houston has seen impressive car collections before, including those of shopping center developer Jerry Moore, auto dealer Sterling McCall and former Shell Oil CEO John Bookout. But O'Quinn surpassed them all, and he boasted a vision beyond the mere acquisition of cars for personal whim or pleasure. He planned to build a museum to display them that he claimed would be the greatest in the world. He had already hired people to compile archival research on cars and to take oral histories from important automotive figures.
An ironic ending He had even scouted potential sites. He was intrigued by one tract near downtown and one closer to the Museum District. He predicted the museum would be completed by 2010, and he acknowledged he was far from finished buying more cars.
The irony of the way O'Quinn died — a car wreck on a wet street near downtown — was lost on no one aware of the passion that had come to consume him, and surprised no one who had ever ridden with him as he drove at breakneck speeds around town. But the collector car world is now focused on another matter: What will become of the museum and the collection?
“The simple answer is I don't know,” said Gerald Treece, a longtime friend who also will serve as executor of the estate. Treece said O'Quinn's personal property has been left to the foundation that served his charitable giving. It will take awhile to determine whether the cars in effect belong to the foundation or to the separate corporation, Treece said.
Part of his collection is a 1937 T57 Atalante's.
Article taken from: HOUSTON CHRONICLE, By MIKE TOLSON
RM Auction, Automobiles of London, October 28, 2009 :
Lot N°247: 1995 Bugatti EB110 GT #ZA9AB01E0PCD39057, Estimate: £180,000-220,000, Sold for £220,000
Lot N°267: 1939 Bugatti Type 57C Faux Cabriolet "Charmaine" #57787, Estimate: £275,000-400,000, Sold for £308,000
Lot N°276: 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Stelvio #57715, Estimate: £400,000-460,000, Sold for £440.000
Thanks to: Christophe Chanterault
October 25, 2009 Scotty Wilson and Gregg Carlson are moving fast-forward in the build of the replica of the Bugatti 100P.
They went to the EAA Oshkosh museum to measure the actual wing-profile of the original airplane!
More info on the Bugatti Aircraft Association Website! Includes video.
RM Auctions 'Vintage Motor Cars of Hershey', October 8-9, 2009 in Pennsylvania :
1930 Bugatti Type 44 Touring #44547 Sold for $187,000 (estimate of $85,000-$120,000)
Thanks to Christophe Chanterault
October 17, 2009 The ex-Schlumpf cars from the Malmerspach collection are currently being prepared for the new Peter Mullin museum, which will open some time in 2010. The cars will not be fully restored, but shown in the condition as they were found.
Above the 1935 Bugatti T57 Galibier Berline, chassis 57338
Below the 1929 T40A, chassis 40485
Thanks to Ard op de Weegh
October 4, 2009 According to messages in the press the Bugatti 16C Galibier will enter production and will be the world's fastest 4-door.
However, the Galibier will not have the same horsepower as the Veyron's 1001. Due to the fitting of two turbochargers, not 4, the power will be reduced to a mere 800HP. Still sufficient to reach a top speed of 350 km/h.
The new Bugatti will also be the most luxurious. Apart from the "usual" luxorious interior, what one would expect from a car like this, the dashboard will be fitted with a Swiss Parmigiani watch, that can be removed to be worn on the owner's wrist. (A similar portable clock was also fitted to some 1920's Bugattis).
The transmission will not be the twin-clutch DSG one fitted to the Veyron, there will be a conventional 8-speed automatic transmission. The car will be available from around 2012, and will set you back around 1.3 million euro, before taxes.
Bonhams Auction Reims, Fine Vintage and Collectors' Motorcars, September 26, 2009
- Lot 128 - 1912 Bugatti Type 16 5 litre Châssis #471, Engine #471 - Estimation : 1.800.000/2.400.000 € - Not Sold (highest bid 1.400.000 €)
- Lot 133 - 1924 Bugatti Type 30/38 Tourer Châssis #38298, Engine #533 - Estimation : 130.000/190.000 € - Sold for 152.950 €
Thanks to: Christophe Chanterault
Apparently the Type 16 will be sold after the auction:
“We’re currently in meaningful negotiations with an interested party,” said Knight. “The vendor has adapted his expectations to the interest expressed,” he said. James Knight is the managing director of Bonham’s motoring department.
September 18, 2009 Scotty Wilson and Gregg Carlson started the build of a replica of the Bugatti 100P airplane this summer. The following text is from Scotty Wilson:
My good friend Gregg Carlson and I first discussed building a replica Bugatti 100P one year ago. We concluded after several months of research that we could and should build the plane. We knew there would be challenges because the plane is such a devilish mixture of simplicity and complexity. And, with so many gaps in the historical record, we just had to accept the fact that we would not be able to answer every question. At some point, we would be faced with a choice: move forward or succumb to paralysis by analysis.
We chose to move forward, and are building a replica as faithful to the original as is practical.
More info on the Bugatti Aircraft Association Website!
September 15, 2009 Last Saturday (September 12) in Molsheim the new Galibier was first presented to a select group of persons, a few days later finally the pictures were released. The new Bugatti, with the official name '16C Galibier Concept', will not be shown at the IAA in Frankfurt, as Bugatti will not be present there.
The car is a 4-door saloon, which features the same 8-litre 16-cylinder engine as the Veyron, but mounted at the front. Also the power was somewhat throttled, resulting in a topspeed of "only" 350 km/h (Is that the fastest Saloon ?). The use of carbon fibre prevented the weight from becoming too high, 1900 kg is just a bit more than the Veyron's 1800kg. The length is approximately 5.30 meters, 80cm more than the Veyron. The rear features 8 exhausts, 4 at either side, as could be seen in the earlier released teaser.
So, how do you like it?? Probably not as spectacular as you would like it, though I do like how the rear looks. What I do like also is the quite sober interior, not too many dials and knobs, mainly wood and leather.
There is no news yet about when the first ones will be delivered, but I would count on 2012.
September 15, 2009 Exquisite Concours d’Elégance ends centenary celebrations
Molsheim, 12th September 2009 – To conclude the festivities marking its 100th anniversary, Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. presented an impressive overview of the legendary brand’s model history in the park of Château St. Jean in Molsheim.
Bugatti clubs from all over the world helped to organise a comprehensive exhibition bound to please enthusiasts, which culminated in an exquisite Concours d’Elégance. On hand were all the vehicles that have contributed to the Bugatti legend over its 100-year history, from the company’s founding in 1909 to the current Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport.
This includes vehicles such as the “Brescia”, the Type 35, whose numerous race track victories made Bugatti a household name across the world, the legendary six Royales from the late 1920s and the Types 57 and 59 designed by Jean Bugatti, which ten years later played another important role in the brand’s story and went down in automobile history as icons.
The Concours begins with some pre-first-war cars, among them the small Type 15 Fiacre from 1912, the oldest Bugatti with a closed body that has survived and continues with the legendary Type 18, Chassis 471, Ettore Bugatti’s personal Mont Ventoux race car. Two Bugatti Royales und three of the most original Bugatti Grand Prix cars - one of them the winning car of the first Monaco Grand Prix in 1929 – represent the period up to the second world war.
Of course, the general overview would not be complete without the Bugatti EB 110 and the prototype EB 112 from the epoch between 1987 and 1995, during which the Italian businessman Romano Artioli attempted – unfortunately in vain – to revive the company that was forced to bring its activities to a halt in 1956.
When speaking of Bugatti, it is also important to remember the entire family’s significance in the artistic community. More an artist than an engineer, Ettore Bugatti came from a family that attained worldwide acclaim for its artistic prowess. His father Carlo was a well-known furniture designer and his brother Rembrandt a talented sculptor whose wildlife sculptures are traded at premium prices today. Selected works by both men are on display in a special exhibition in the château. The exhibition includes exquisite individual pieces that have returned to Molsheim for the first time for this weekend.
As we all know, this event was, contrary to the usual Molsheim Festival, closed to the general public. For participants only.
September 6, 2009 Ready for Pebble Beach?
By: David Grainger, Canwest News Service
Last week, Mat Radman, my captive automotive engineer and coordinator of the Aerolithe project, had a meeting with his team to determine if the car would be ready to journey to Pebble Beach this summer to attend the Concours d'Elegance.
The consensus was that the Bugatti would be ready no matter what challenges lay ahead over the next few months.
I must admit feeling a slight dread concerning this proclamation. I've been here before and, in many cases, that optimism has been met with difficulties and drawbacks that have defeated deadlines, depressing and annoying project owners and builders alike.
This time, however, I feel more comfortable about the imposed deadlines.
First, these deadlines are not imposed on us by the car's owner. He has been absolutely sterling throughout the entire process -- his only demands have been that we maintain the historical accuracy of the build.
This is exceptional as many owners impose unrealistic deadlines on projects that are more about wish fulfillment, birthdays, anniversaries, anticipation or just plain cash flow into a black hole than they are about the mechanical and supply realities.
In the case of the Aerolithe, the deadline has come from the people building the car. They have vowed to have it ready no matter what crops up or how many nights the lights have to stay on past midnight. This is an altogether different creature.
The last time I felt truly comfortable about such a vigorous deadline was when we built the Batmobile and had to have it ready for Halloween so it could appear, costumed crusaders and all, in front of Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children to a crowd of excited kids.
While the Aerolithe's deadlines and destination may not be quite so worthy, it is aimed at one of the greatest automotive events in the world -- and the car itself has a lot of historical merit.
This is a car that has elicited contention among experts and has posed some of the most challenging technical problems I have ever encountered during a build. This build is being viewed on our Web site ( www.guildclassiccars.com) by enthusiasts all over the world, most of whom only have the kindest things to say about the Bugatti's recreation.
During the project we have explored the technology and engineering incorporated into what is undeniably Bugatti's greatest model line, the T57 series. Our respect for the brilliance of the pre-war designers and engineers has continuously grown as we came to realize just how cleverly these automobiles were wrought. It is for good reason that Bugatti is still the overlord in the pantheon of the world's greatest cars.
The Aerolithe project is over budget and has taken much longer than anticipated, but, when finished, it will not just be a recreation of the lost Bugatti. It is being fabricated from Electron, a magnesium alloy, and will live up to the name bestowed on it by an awestruck 1930s media. It is in every way the Electron Coupe.
During the last two years, we have made some amazing discoveries about magnesium, its strengths and weaknesses and the incredibly complex methods that were employed to shape it. During that time, we ran into some frustrating dead ends, watching beautifully shaped metal mysteriously bend back flat overnight, snap like a soup cracker just as it was finished being worked, explode into flames and just generally resist all forms of mechanical manipulation. It has even sickened the people working it because, when absorbed into the body, it is toxic.
We have heated, cooled, hammered and rolled it. We have also cursed it, regretted it and, at times, felt genuine despair about using it. In the end, however, perseverance tinged with the right amount of experience, craft and desperation unlocked the alloy's secrets.
Two years later, we can actually accomplish things with Electron that even its manufacturers said could not be done. As a result, the car is taking shape, its skeleton being fleshed out and increasingly covered in its reluctant skin.
At times during the process, I truly felt Ettore Bugatti was lying about the use of Electron in the construction of the original car. I thought, perhaps, it was just a bit of showmanship on his part -- buzz created to promote the line.
Today, however, I know that more than 70 years ago those incredibly gifted craftsmen at the Bugatti works in Molsheim, France could have created this magnificent automobile, draping it with its incredibly light, strong and peculiarly incendiary coating of Electron.
I look forward to that moment when the Aerolithe's gleaming eight-cylinder engine will burst into song, when its heart starts to beat for the very first time.
[autos.canada.com]
August 26, 2009 Apparently due to bad management the Crawford Auto Museum in Cleveland Ohio has to sell part of it's collection, and will (amongst others) be auctioning a 1930 Bugatti Type 44 Touring Car, chassis 44547.
More info: www.wrhs.org/index.php/crawford/updateoncrawfordcollection.
The Bugatti will be auctioned by RM Auctions, in the "Vintage Motor Cars of Hershey" auction, on October 9, 2009, more info
Auctions results (all include the buyer's premium) :
Bonhams Auction, Quail Motorsports Gathering, Quail Lodge Resort, Carmel, CA, August 14, 2009 :
Lot No.243: 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Coupe by Gangloff #57532, Not Sold (highest bid $5.2 million)
Gooding & Company, The Pebble Beach Auctions, Pebble Beach, August 15-16, 2009 :
Lot No.24: 1930 Bugatti Type 49 Cabriolet #49229, sold for $308,000
Lot No.31: 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Special Coupe #57335, sold for $1,375,000
Lot No.76: 1939 Bugatti Type 57C Galibier Sport Saloon #57752, Not Sold
Lot No.129: 1937 Bugatti Type 57C Atalante Coupe #57557, sold for $880,000
RM Auction, Sports & Classics of Monterey, August 13-15th, 2009 :
Lot No.542: 2006 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 #VF9SA15BX6M795027, Not Sold at a high bid of $900,000
Lot No.589: 1927 Bugatti Type 37 Grand Prix Recreation #BC 050, Sold for $126,500
After many speculations and a teaser, finally something official on the next Bugatti (3 prototypes in fact):
Bugatti will preview a future model with a concept car in September - but it will be just one of three proposals for the next model, company boss Dr Franz-Josef Pfaegen has told Autocar.
The first concept is widely tipped to be a four-door saloon, which will be shown to potential customers to gauge reaction as to whether Bugatti should be building such a car.
However, Dr Pfaegen was keen to quash rumours that a production Bugatti saloon would have any relationship with the new Bentley Mulsanne saloon, launched this weekend at Pebble Beach and a car he has brought to production in his other role as head of Bentley.
"A Bugatti saloon will have different dimensions and be a completely different concept. In fact it’s hard to find any similarites at all [with the new Bentley]," he told Autocar.
"A Bugatti is designed and developed for a total volume of not more than 150, so that allows completely different materials and technology."
Dr Pfaegen was also keen to point out that any future Bugatti models would stay in the same super-rarified end of the market at the Veyron supercar.
"The worse thing that we could do is to go downmarket, we need to keep it as the ultimate."
[Autocar.co.uk]
August 11, 2009 Michael Dunn, long-time Canadian Guitar builder has developed a Bugatti style guitar.
Of course we have already seen a lot of different designs, inspired on some of the Bugatti automobile design cues, this guitar seems to me one of the more successful.
August 9, 2009 Where the sale of "Black Bess" (474) in February in Paris, now a second Big, Early Bugatti will be auctioned, it is "471", a 5 litre 4-cylinder car from 1912 with which Ettore Bugatti himself participated in races! The car is also referred to as a "Type 18", and has chain drive.
The auction will be in Reims, September 26, Auction house Bonhams - Fine Vintage and Collectors' Motorcars, Estimate: €1,800,000 - 2,400,000 .
So, if you just failed to buy "Black Bess", now is your chance! Or, of course Mr. Louwman, a chance to be able to show a PAIR of these exceptional Bugattis in one museum!
Bonhams text:
Registration No. AM 2678
Chassis No. 471
Black with green leather seat.
Engine: four-cylinder 100x160mm. 5,027cc, five bearing crankshaft, single overhead camshaft, 3 valves per cylinder; Transmission: chain drive; Gearbox: four-speed and reverse; Suspension: twin pairs of front springs and reversed quarter elliptics to the rear; Brakes: rear wheel brakes (handbrake) with additional transmission brake operated by the foot pedal; Wheels: wire spoked with 820x120mm tyres; Right hand drive.
In 1910, aged 28, Ettore Bugatti resigned his position at the Deutz works in Cologne and moved to Alsace renting an old dye works in Molsheim where he began making his own automobiles. He took with him a prototype car of 1,208cc which he had built in his basement workshop in Cologne and which was to become the first Pur Sang Bugatti, the Type 10. He also brought with him another much more powerful car, a five-litre overhead valve design with three valves per cylinder (two inlet, one exhaust) and chain drive, which he later confirmed to Colonel Giles of the Bugatti Owners Club he had started building in 1908. Bugatti once drove a five-litre car in the 1910 Prince Henry Trial and there is strong evidence that he had used this engine in a Deutz chassis. Bugatti's car did not appear in its final form for another two years as it was his own competition car and therefore not intended for production. He had to wait for a while until his new company was established before it could be developed. In 1912 Bugatti drove his five-litre chain-driven car, equipped with an aerodynamic cowled two seater bodywork - distinguishable by its pointed tail - in a race at Le Mans and later at the Mont Ventoux Hill Climb where he won his class and finished fourth overall. The history of this important car, number 471 was largely confirmed when Nigel Arnold-Forster took over ownership from Peter Hampton in 1974.
The number of 471 is stamped on the near-side rear engine mounting and it had always been believed that this was indeed the pointed tail racing car driven by Ettore at Mont Ventoux in 1912. The Hugh Conway factory records make it clear that this is the first of the five-litre cars (and therefore three earlier than "Black Bess" number 474, recently sold by Bonhams at Rétromobile 2009 for € 2,427,500) and the only one to have been made in 1912. Nigel Arnold-Forster painstakingly rebuilt the car and this is fully recorded in "Bugantics", Summer 1977, Vol 40 No. 2.
The engine has a bore and stroke of 100x160mm. giving a capacity of 5,027cc and uses a five bearing crankshaft and an overhead camshaft driven off the front of the engine by a vertical shaft operating two inlet and one exhaust valve per cylinder. Totally enclosed, the whole design is remarkable for its period and has more in common with the Grand Prix Bugattis of the Twenties than the contemporary Bugatti production car engines. The multi-plate clutch of typical Bugatti design had been perfected for Deutz and the Bugatti designed four-speed gearbox is a work of art in itself. The final drive by chain is virtually identical to the design for Deutz except that the semi-elliptic springs were replaced by reversed quarter elliptics, a classic Bugatti feature but not used for production cars until 1913. A transmission brake was fitted to the rear of the gearbox and a handbrake for the rear wheels which are of the beaded edge type fitted with 820x120mm tyres.
471 stayed at Molsheim until the outbreak of war in 1914 when Bugatti sold it to HRH The Duke of Bavaria who removed the pointed tail racing body and replaced it with a touring body. During the twenties the car passed to Bruno Martinelli of Chiasso, a Swiss champion motor cycle racer who was killed in 1936 at a race in Geneva. The car was then bought by infamous British Bugatti afficionado Colonel Giles (who at that time owned 474, the Roland Garros car known by then as "Black Bess"). Both cars subsequently became the property of C.W.P. Hampton who later parted with 471 to Nigel Arnold-Forster.
The exacting rebuild included making a detailed copy of the original 1912 competition body but retaining the original radiator and bonnet. Only one weak point of the original engine was noted during the rebuild, namely the lubrication system which was of the total loss type. This was therefore changed to a pressure fed dry sump installation without modifying any original part of the engine.
Once completed it was actively campaigned in various events both in the UK and on Continental tours, including the Mont Ventoux Hill Climb. At the 1981 Vintage Sports-Car Club Speed Trial at Colerne it was timed at 108mph whilst it still holds the Edwardian class record at The Vintage Prescott Hill meeting. The engine produces a massive amount of torque and the car will cruise effortlessly at 80-90mph. To paraphrase an article written by Sandy Skinner for Bugantics, having driven this great car, "It is enormously tweakable.....and goes exactly where it is pointed. The torque at low revs continues, seemingly unendingly, with a marvellous rising boom from the exhaust...it is totally manageable and quite magnificent."
More recently the car was driven ‘up the hill’ for the second time at the 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed where it attracted a great deal of interest and performed faultlessly. No.471 is the oldest known racing Bugatti and indeed a magnificent example of an Edwardian racing car, having exceptional performance, and is significant in that it was the personal competition car of the great man himself. It is to be offered by Bonhams at the inaugural Reims sale on September 26th, carrying a pre-auction estimate of €1,800,000-2,400,000.
July 13, 2009 Artcurial, Classic and Racing Cars Auction Deauville
- Lot No 27 : 1938 Bugatti Type 57 Coach Ventoux #57662, Estimate on request, Not Sold
- Lot No 42 : 1984 De La Chapelle Bugatti Type 55, Estimate : 35000 - 45000 €, Not Sold
July 22, 2009 H&H Sales Ltd, The Pavillon Gardens, Buxton (UK)
Lot 76 : 1926 Bugatti Type 23 `Brescia Modifie' #2840 : Sold for £148.500 (inclusive of Buyer's Premium)
Thanks to: Christophe Chanterault
July 16, 2009 Michael Ullrich died suddenly, on April 2, 2009, from a heart attack, while at work. Michael is most known for his book "The race Bugatti missed", it is less known that he worked on the new Kruta / Hucke book: "Bugatti: From Milan to Molsheim". Naturally he worked a lot on studying the De Dietrich Type 5, of which he made a large scale metal model. A longer time ago, he also made various automotive sculptures, like of the T57S Atalante and the T30 Indianapolis. nLuckily I had the pleasure of meeting him personally on a few occasions.
I received the following additional info on Michael, from his brother Thomas:
My brother was born in September 1951. We grew up in several parts of Germany , before we moved to Berlin in 1967.
His first car he bought in 1975 was a BMW Isetta, which he kept until his death. He was a very early member of the German Isetta Club. He went to several micro car meetings in Germany and England. Later he developed a passion for Amilcars and bought himself a CGS which he kept until last year.
In his early teens he began to built car models from kits he bought. I did the same, but he was getting bettter and better and I stoped to do it myself he was so much better.
As a member of the Amilcar Register and the cercle Pegase made bronce sculptures for them. After he met Uwe Hucke he began to make the De Dietrich (Bugatti Type 5) for him. During that he began to write his first book.
He married his wife Swantje 20 years ago. Since two years she is very ill and he was helping her as much as he could. But never the less he found time to work with Julius Kruta on the Bugatti book. And also he bought last year a Rolls Royce Twenty Saloon from 1927. He got his car just two weeks before his heart attack.
Shortly before his death 02.04.2009 he began to research for his next book He wanted to write something about the Gordon Bennet races.
He had only worked on the two Bugatti books you know. But writing is in the family. Our parents where writers and I have written some articles for the German magazine Markt and for the English The Automobile.
As we where in close contact,living only 30 km apart and sharing the hobby ( I had an Isetta and an Amilcar, Too) I like to finish work on his last projekt.
I already have began to collect material about the projekt Bugatti in Germany and for that I look for everything Fotos of German Bugattis, storys about cars and people. I think it could be a very interesting book as ther where many Bugattis in Germany before the war.
If someone can help me with material for my projekt I would be very grateful.
Thomas Ulrich - You can contact Thomas Ulrich through sending me an e-mail, JJ Horst
July 16, 2009 In various media this "teaser" appeared, supposedly for the new Bugatti model, expected to be a 4-door with a similar engine (maybe downtuned?) as in the Veyron, an 8-litre 16-cylinder.
The car, is to be presented at the IAA in Frankfurt in September, though maybe we will see some of it in Pebble Beach also. Until now the name "Royale" for this 4-door Bugatti circulated in the press, now the name "Bordeaux" is suggested.
So, what do we see on the picture? The rear end of the car, somewhat similar to the EB112 or EB218 Saloon models designed by Gandini. Obviously the 3rd brake-light is incorporated in the vertical "Atlantic style" but broadened fin. We will have to wait till September to see more!
July 14, 2009
The submerged Bugatti was successfully lifted from the Lago Maggiore, and seems to be in not-to-bad shape!
The coachbuilder-tag seems to read: "Emaille", a coachbuilder I have not heard of before.
Photographs sent by Marcel Koreman, he received them from a friend on vacation in Italy!
July 9, 2009 The Bugatti has been in the Lake (Lago Maggiore), on the Swiss side for more than 70 Years. We now know that it is the model Bugatti Brescia. As you probably know there are about 3000 Bugatti's world wide from witch 160 in Switzerland. On Sunday the 12th of July we will have one more.
Mr. Hans Matti who is an absolute expert in the Bugatti history and matter has already been able to find out (from the Number of the car), that this Bugatti has been put in circulation on April 11, 1925 in Nancy, France.
Of course there are different versions of the Bugatti Brescia, once the car will be out from the water Mr. Matti will be able to tell us exactly which type it is.
This event and the following sale (witch will be on a later date) is a Charity event in favor of Fondazione Damiano Tamagni.
You can view the web page on: www.damianotamagni.ch
This is the web page of the Life Guard Society of Ascona (Centro sport subacquei salvataggio Ascona (CSSS)), who has worked with Boerlin Lavori Subacquei Society to find and to recover this car.
On Sunday 12. July 2009 this old Bugatti Brescia, which was for many decades on the bottom of the lake, will be lifted to the surface.
It seems that the question of the Bugatti is still restorable is an easy one to answer.
More info or: mauri(AT)fastenopfer.ch, www.sacrificioquaresimale.ch
Top photograph: Pasqualino Trotta.
Exceptional classics cars auction
On offer:
1928 Bugatti T37 GP, chassis 37301, engine #222
Ex-Dreyfus, 5th overall in the 1st Monaco GP, and class winner.
Same owner since 1958
December 18, 2009 - January 17, 2010 Exposition 100 years Bugatti Brussels, BelgiumAutoworld Brussel will organize an exposition for 100 years Bugatti from 18/12/2009 until 17/01/2010. On show will be 40 Bugattis:
Type 13 (1910-1920) – 1 ex.
Type 22 and Type 23 "Brescia" (1921 – 1926) – 1 ex. each
Type 32 "Tank" (1923) – 1 ex.
Type 35: the most symbolic Bugatti (1924-1930) – 5 ex.
Type 37 – 2 ex.
Type 40 (1926-1930) – 2 ex. - "Grand Sport" and "Fiacre".
Type 41 "Royale Esders" (1926-1931) – 1 ex.
Type 43 (1927-1930) – 2 ex. - "Grand Sport" and "Figoni-Falaschi" (Parijs).
Type 44 (1927-1930) – 1 ex.
"Faux Cabriolet", body D'Ieteren Frères
Type 50 (1930-1933) – 1 ex. - "semi profilée"
Type 52 "Baby" (1927-1937) – 1 ex.
Type 55, "voiture de Monsieur Jean" (1931-1935) – 1 ex.
Type 59 (1933-1934) – 1 ex. - "course"
Type 56, small electric car (1931-1933) – 1 ex.
Type 57 - 57C – 57S – 57SC : the unique signture of Jean 1934-1939) – 10 ex.
- T57 Stelvio 1st series – 1934 – Cabriolet Gangloff
- T57C Aravis – Cabriolet – body Letourneur & Marchal (Paris)
- T57C Galibier 2nd series – 1938 – berline
- T57C Ventoux – 1938 – coach
- T57SC Atalante – coupé cabriolet
- T57SC Atlantic – 1936.
- T57 – Coupé "Gangloff" – 1935. new replica body using a never before used design.
- T57 – four-seater coupé – 1939 – body Albert D'Ieteren
- T57C – Roadster 'Gangloff'. body realised in 2007 using an unpublished design from Gangloff , 1935.
- T57S – roadster – 1936. Identical reconstruction of the T57S owned until 1950 by the French painter André Perrin, and afterwards scrapped.
Type 57G "Tank" (1936-1937) – 1 ex.
After Ettore…
Type 101 (1951 – 1953) – 1 ex.
Type 251 (1955/6 ) – 1 ex.
Type 252 (1956) – 1 ex.
EB 110 (1991-1994) – 1 ex.
EB 112 (1992) – 1 ex.
Bugatti Veyron 16.4 (2006 – ca. 2011) – 1 ex.
Bugatti Veyron Fbg by Hermès (2008) – 1 ex.
Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport (2009) – 1 ex.
Other inventions by Bugatti.
Amongst others: the Bugatti 100P airplane, model built by Dominique Mathern!
More info: www.autoworld.be and www.bugatti100.com
January 23, 2010 Bonhams Auction at Retromobile Paris, FranceOn offer: Bugatti Type 22, Chassis 2461, engine 879
The famous car that was saved from the lake near Ascona!
May 31 - June 6, 2010 International Bugatti Rally 2010 Salzburg, Austria
More info: www.bugatti-club-austria.at
August 16 - 22, 2010 U.S. International Bugatti Rally and U.S. Bugatti Grand Prix A Most Exciting Event is coming in 2010
The 2010 International Rally sponsored by the American Bugatti Club. During the famous Monterey Weekend: The Monterey Historic Automobile Races and the Pebble Beach Concourse ‘de Elegance (August 13 -15, 2010), the club will sponsor a Bugatti Grand Prix and other events. This will be followed by a Rally-Tour through some of the California coast’s most beautiful scenery. Drive over the Golden Gate Bridge and tour the John Muir Woods. You will drive along the cliffs of the Pacific ocean, through back roads of rolling hills and the legendary California Wine Country. Along the way, visiting a Steam Railroad, stopping at a private estate for lunch, tour the famous Hearst Castle in San Simeon, stroll and shop at Solvang, a quaint Danish Village, a dinner under the stars at Fess Parker’s Winery.
There will also be stops at Historic California Missions and a tour of the back roads of Santa Barbara. The Rally will end in Oxnard, California, at the beautiful Mandalay Beach Resort on the beach. There will be a reception at a new Museum featuring Bugatti cars, French historical vehicles, and a Bugatti Exposition of Memorabilia. Following, will be a gala dinner at Mandalay Resort. The next morning will be a tour through the Santa Monica Mountains with lunch at a private estate in Malibu.
More info:
Paul Simms, Secretary, 600 Lakeview Terrace.
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137-5419 USA, E-mail: quiltbug57(AT)sbcglobal.com
I can be reached by email at J.J.Horst@BugattiPage.com.
November 16, 2009 