In our various discussions, mention is sometimes made of Molsheim factory records. My question concerns the history of these records, unsurprisingly now incomplete and dispersed:

- where are there significant archives today: drawings, parts lists, build records, internal test reports, accounts etc?

- what are the stories of these collections: how did they get into the hands of the current owners/custodians?

Looking forward to learning more about the history of the marque!

There seems to be considerable confusion about the where-abouts of the factory archives. Here is what I know : Some records were lost during WWII, but I do not know the specifics. The B.O.C. (or individual members of the B.O.C.) became custodians of some during the post war years. These documents are, to the best of my knowledge, still around, but access seem to be limited.

Hugh Conway's archive is today with The Bugatti Trust. As a librarian I have great empathy with The Trust's conundrum; how to make them available to historians and researchers, and still preserve them. The oil from human sweat glands are surprisingly acidic, and harmful to paper.

The late, great Uwe Hucke had a fabulous archive, and since he was by all accounts a remarkably gracious and generous man, he allowed some access to his library. I speak under correction here, but I believe this archive is still with his family.

I am also not sure what, if any, files and/or documents went to Fritz Schlumpf when he acquired the factory collection cars. And the present guardians of the Schlumpf museum seem a little guarded about the contents.

There is also the belief (most strongly held by the B.O.C.) that protection of the Bugatti heritage can only be secured by keeping details a closely guarded secret. I always believed this to be wrong, but seeing that Pur Sang's products are dimensionally incorrect, perhaps there is merit in keeping some information confidential.

There is however, some good news, most authors, Conway, Woods and Laugier jumps to mind, have access to such archives as is needed to complete their work. Pierre-Yves Laugier has even convinced the Schlumpf museum to give their full co-operation when he researched his T57S work. Soon his work on the T51 and T55 will reveal equally impressive depth of research. The soon to be published work on the T46 has the combined research might of Klein, Saunier & Jansen behind it, so it should finally lift the veil on the Petite-Royale. And the upcoming Steinhauser work on Ettore's early years should be just about definitive. He was the historian who discovered the Isotta blueprint with Ettore's signature stamped on it.

While the exact location of the archives remain shrouded in mystery, Bugatti enthusiasts does seem to benefit by the top echelon of author's access to them. But if anyone one else can shed some light as to the journey these archives took post Molsheim, it would certainly make for fascinating reading.

Kind Regards
Johan Buchner

I understand that U.H. traded a large part of his collection of factory records (purchased at the R.B. estate sale) for a dismantled type 51 engines belonging to a rolling chassis at Mulhouse.

The financial records of the Bugatti company are said to be held by the successors in title to the H-S firm which of course took over around 1963.

The majority of the rest of the records are said to still be owned by Artioli and housed in a building on the estate owned by his wife in Italy.

Most of the records held by the Bugatti Trust are said to be copies and there is a list of frame numbers held be a senior member of the Bugatti community to which the club registrar is said to not be allowed access.

I have heard of these documents held by a senior member of the B.O.C. and I can understand why they are kept away from prying eyes, but denying the Registrar of the B.O.C. access? Why?

Does anybody here know what is contained in the Artioli archive? Is it accessible now, or conceivably in the future?

Do BOC or the Trust have relatively complete technical data (part drawings, parts lists, materials specs etc) for some or all models?

Are BOC spares made to Molsheim specs, or are they reverse engineered from samples?

Are Messier-Bugatti the successors in title to H-S that Hunter refers to?

Several years ago UK Bugatti owners recieved personal invitations from Artioli to some launch party or celebration.

I had occasion to phone his office and spoke to a charming lady who was in charge of the archives which he had acquired with the "Bugatti" brand name.

Despite being a very charming lady her knowledge of Bugattis was somewhat limited and I suspect her employment was terminated when Artioli's project crashed.

It reminds me of when I last phoned the UK BOC club office and mentioned my "Brescia". The person at the other end of the phone had no idea what I was talking about.

The BOC did use appropriate drawings to produce their spares but several of their spares are subtley improved over the original.

As far as I know the Trust has never published an inventory or index of the material they hold.

I understand that the company which now occupies the Molsheim site still holds some of the original financial records which it inherited from Hispan-Suiza but have also been told that during police investigations at the time of the Marco scandal certain key records disappeared. I believe that Mr. Matthews was in the process of preparing an article on this subject shortly before his death. Does anyone know what became of his archive ?

Another story I heard is that some of the records removed from Molsheim by R.B. when he was unceremoniously evicted were retained after his death by his partner and have subsequently dispapeared.

It's all kind of depressing isn't it? All I can add is that in his book of essays, published shortly before his death, Matthews stated as fact that Pierre Marco had been stealing money from the company for years. Is this the scandal you are referring to? Thanks for starting this thread Jakey_too, I suspect there is a lot more to learn about Molsheim's records.

Thanks
Johan.

PS. The B.O.C. employs someone to answer phones who do not know what a Brescia is? Really depressing, let us hope it was an isolated incident.

What I know:

The Artioli papers are still with his (ex) wife, Renata Kettmeier, I believe in Switzerland. The collection has said to be for sale (Bugatti SAS was interested in buying), but stopped the transaction after several successive price increases. It seems however that the technical drawings held by Mrs. Kettmeier were mainly copies, not the originals

The Schlumpf museum holds several documents, which came from Uwe Hucke. Amongst those, several documents about the Bugatti 100P airplane. I was told that Uwe Hucke was not really a librarian the way that Johan would have liked it; he tended to give away documents, drawings and other parts of his collection as he felt like it.

There is another collection of documents with a collector in France, I was told. I don't know who he is, though.

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