The most famous Bugatti in the world belonged to an architect who did something ridiculous with it
- The most famous Bugatti in the world isn’t owned by a celebrity
- However, its story is incredible
- It’s all thanks to a philanthropic late businessman
Published on Aug 19, 2024 at 5:03 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Aug 20, 2024 at 5:08 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
While you might think of a celebrity car collection when you hear ‘most famous’ Bugatti, this supercar’s fame is down to its incredible story.
It belonged to an architect, who sank it to the bottom of a lake in Switzerland to avoid taxes and it remained submerged for 73 years.
After being recovered, it was sold to a billionaire, who placed it in a climate-controlled museum, where it has gained celebrity.
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The 1925 Bugatti Type 22 Brescia Roadster
The rusty remains of a 1925 Bugatti Type 22 Brescia Roadster were hauled from the depths of a Swiss lake in 2009.
After it was recovered, the rare car was put up for auction by Bonhams in 2010.
Enter the late American businessman, philanthropist, and automotive enthusiast Peter Mullin.
He bought what was left of the Bugatti for $364,700 – a move that many questioned, considering a mint-condition car would have cost less.
However, Mullin – who sadly died last year – was buying into a legend.
It’s said that the Bugatti was once owned by famous race car driver, René Dreyfus.
It’s claimed that Dreyfus gave the car to Swiss playboy Adalbert Bodé in Paris in 1934 as payment for poker debts.
Bodé then set off for Switzerland via Italy.
However, upon attempting to cross the border, he was pulled up by customs officials who asked him to stump up for import duties.
With that particular model less collectible at the time, Bodé abandoned the car.
Per Swiss customs, with its duties unpaid, the car had to be destroyed.
They chose Lake Maggiore as its final resting place, 53m (173ft) below the surface, half buried in silt.
Another underwater mystery involves the only car on the Titanic after the ship sank whose fate remains a big mystery.
Recovery of the Bugatti
The car’s lore grew from the depths, with Swiss scuba diver Ugo Pillon diving to confirm the myth in 1964.
Others followed and the famous Bugatti gradually grew in celebrity and became a tourist attraction.
After the tragic mugging of a scuba club member in 2008, it was decided to fish out the Bugatti to raise funds in his honor.
When it was recovered in 2009, most of its components and panels had been devoured by rust, with the silt managing to protect some of the parts.
Bonhams set a pre-sale estimate of $130,000, but Mullin bid almost three times that amount, securing the supercar for the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California, US.
There it remained in a humidity-controlled environment to preserve what was left of it after its seven decades under water.
Despite the playboy and poker story, it was later discovered that the Bugatti had been owned by a Swiss architect who never made his import of the car official.
Sadly, the museum closed its doors for the last time after the passing of its patron, Mullin in 2023.
Another mystery and rare Bugatti includes this $18 million one-off Bugatti La Voiture Noire spotted near a budget supermarket – and it certainly had people scratching their heads.
It was previously spotted in Croatia wearing Swiss license plates.
All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
