Bugatti Salvaged From Swiss Lake Stars in $21 Million Auction - Bloomberg.com
Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- A 1920s Bugatti salvaged from the depths of a Swiss lake is among the cars expected to sell for at least 15 million euros ($21 million) at an auction in Paris that takes place tomorrow.The 1925 Brescia Type-22 Roadster, which had French number plates, was abandoned by its owner in 1936, said London-based auction house Bonhams. It had accrued import duties that may have been higher than the car’s value. Their non-payment required that the vehicle be destroyed, and it was pushed into Lake Maggiore by Swiss customs officials, said the catalog.“The officials were left with a quandary,” said James Knight, the company’s international managing director. “They came up with a neat solution.”The Bugatti may raise as much as 90,000 euros in the annual Retromobile sale that is the first major test for demand for classic cars in 2010. Cars proved more resilient than other areas of the auction market during the economic slump, said dealers. Still, prices have fallen by an average of 20 percent since the end of 2007.The corroded wreck of the Bugatti was retrieved from 53 meters of water by members of the Ascona sub-aqua club last July. Proceeds of its sale will benefit a charity in the name of the late Damiano Tamagni, one of the club’s divers, who died in 2008 after being the victim of a street attack.About 20 percent of the original components of the car are re-usable, according to the catalog.“We’ve had quite a lot of people looking at it,” Knight said in an interview. “Some people would like to leave it alone and use it as a kind of sculpture; others regard it as a restoration job.”Bonhams is offering 99 cars in Paris with most of the more expensive vehicles dating from the early 20th century.A Spanish industrialist, not named by Bonhams, has entered a collection of 28 cars into the auction. These include a rebuilt 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 “Monza” racer estimated at 1.3 million euros to 1.6 million euros -- the highest estimate in the sale -- and a 1929 Mercedes-Benz 630K “Town Car” at 400,000 euros to 600,000 euros.Among the lots entered by other sellers, a restored 1.5- litre supercharged straight-eight Talbot-Darracq Grand Prix racer, dating from 1926 to 1927, is one of eight cars in the auction expected to fetch as much as 500,000 euros.Prices of collectible cars had gained 60 percent since 2006, according to an index created by David Kinney, publisher of “Hagerty’s Cars That Matter,” a value guide and Web site.Buyers were hesitant at the annual “Automobiles of London” sale held by RM Auctions, in association with Sotheby’s, in Battersea Park in October. Many high-value historic cars struggled to achieve their estimates.Last year the Retromobile auction featured 82 cars and raised 11.2 million euros, said Bonhams.
