25 replies to this topic

[bschenker]

Yesterday a Ascona (Switzerland)
.

[SWB]

Any further and better particulars?

Steve

[bschenker]

Nearly al articles are in German or Italian and my English is not good enoug, but i found this site.
http://www.autoevolu...-lake-8640.html

[Gary C]

O M G !!!

[Gary C]

'Needless to say, that car is not restorable.'
We'll see about that!!

[f1steveuk]

O M G !!!

'Needless to say, that car is not restorable.'
We'll see about that!!


I wouldn't be surprised, I thought BABs was past it!

[Arjan de Roos]

This is funny too, but not as intended:

'So, we have a car built by an Italian manufacturer, first registered in France, found in a Swiss lake. That car travelled a lot!'

[Rob]

'Needless to say, that car is not restorable.'
We'll see about that!!

Even if you can't restore it, you've practically got a set of 3D plans to build a replica

[Vitesse2]

More pictures - including some underwater shots and a short video:

http://www.bugattibu...076a6b49a6881ef

[terry mcgrath]

Given that it has been lifted out the way it was and the car didn't colapse I would say it is in far better shape than some cars stored under tarps out in the open!
I would say it will be back on the road in 5 years unless someone decides to keep it as a time warp museum piece
terry

[Beech_boy]

Anything's restorable as long as you have the data plate!

Edited by Beech_boy, 13 July 2009 - 18:08.

[dretceterini]

Anything's restorable as long as you have the data plate!

That comment is unforgivable!!

[Simon Thomas]

Hope the chassis remains the same length and does not become another VSCC short wheelbase trials type "special"!
Simon Thomas

[Vitesse2]

You have to wonder how it got there, though. As it was 50 metres down, that would imply somewhere in the middle of the lake, which is right on the Italian-Swiss border - and in fact the border cuts across it. Smuggling operation gone wrong? Spoils of war being taken to Switzerland in early '45? Just a thought ....

[Manel Baró]

You have to wonder how it got there, though. As it was 50 metres down, that would imply somewhere in the middle of the lake, which is right on the Italian-Swiss border - and in fact the border cuts across it. Smuggling operation gone wrong? Spoils of war being taken to Switzerland in early '45? Just a thought ....

...On board of a discrete boat in the middle of a moonless night...

[kayemod]

...On board of a discrete boat in the middle of a moonless night...

It the boat was 'discrete', ie in separate parts, that might explain how the car fell into the water?

It's only polite to point out though, that Manel's English is about one million times better than my Spanish...

[Manel Baró]

It the boat was 'discrete', ie in separate parts, that might explain how the car fell into the water?
You got it!

It's only polite to point out though, that Manel's English is about one million times better than my Spanish...

I do understand: You haven't got a clue of Spanish!

[kayemod]

I do understand: You haven't got a clue of Spanish!

Absolutely correct Manel, (but you should use a lower case Y after a colon).

[Charles Helps]

... and sold at Bonhams auction at Retromobile on Saturday for over 260,000 Euros including buyer's premium

Lot 250

I wonder what will happen to it now?

[Rob Semmeling]

The car was sold to a Dutch collector named Jaap Braam Ruben for 230.000 Euro. It was originally bought in 1925 by a French architect who lived in Switzerland. Apparently he never paid taxes for it and when he moved he left behind the car at a hotel in Terrin. The owners there decided to dump it into the lake in 1937.

The current owner says he does not want to restore it. "Nature took 72 years to form it this way (...) true art should not be altered." The Bugatti is expected to be displayed in Maastricht, the Netherlands before moving to a museum near Los Angeles.

All of this according to today's local newspaper.

[lustigson]

The owners there decided to dump it into the lake in 1937.

Why didn't they sell it on, back then. Silly Swiss, I guess.

[Rob Semmeling]

The car had been driving in Switzerland illegally as the original owner didn't pay taxes. The owners of the hotel where he left it were afraid they'd have to pay for it if the taxman found out.

Again all according to today's newspaper.

[alfredaustria]

Unbelievable. For 230.000 Euro I would buy .... (many many other things), but not this rust...

[kayemod]

Why didn't they sell it on, back then. Silly Swiss, I guess.;)

They're Swiss, they can't help it. It may seem mad to us, but clearly a tax dodge.

[Scuderia CC]

The sale was hotly contested by 6 bidders and finally won by a European collector on behalf of the California Collection of Peter Mullin, who will exhibit in the state in its future museum near Los Angeles, while the under-bidder, U.S., too, wanted to restore it. The successful Dutch buyer (Jaap Braam Ruben) who bid on behalf of Peter Mullin told the press that he had no price limit for acquiring the car, before adding "Bugatti is the first desease". Evidence that the importance of the crisis is not the same for everyone...

[Pullman99]

It seems that Swiss lakes continue to harbour (!) a few vehicles - although this one's a recent addition. In this case it's a bus that accidentally went swimming. A bit too mundane for the Peter Mullin Collection methinks!

Story here:

BBC Lake Geneva bus story

Edited by Pullman99, 04 June 2013 - 07:48.