As usual, Bonhams will offer several Bugattis at its Retromobile auction of 23-jan.-2010. The following Bugattis are already consigned.
I've copied the text from the Bonhams website, have a look at their website for photos.

Lot No: 214

1929 Bugatti Type 44 'Fiacre' Coupé
Coachwork by Jean Bugatti
Registration no. UAS 803
Chassis no. 441193
Engine no. 398

By the early 1930s Ettore Bugatti had established an unrivalled reputation for building cars with outstanding performance on road or track; the world's greatest racing drivers enjoying countless successes aboard the Molsheim factory's products and often choosing them for their everyday transport. Considered the finest touring Bugatti of the 1920s, the Type 44 was introduced in 1927 and lasted in production until 1931. 1,095 were built, of which around 10 percent survive today. The model was powered by Bugatti's classic single-overhead-cam straight eight engine, one of the most famous automobile power units of all time. Because of its lengthy run of success, Ettore Bugatti remained committed to his single-cam design, only adopting the double-overhead-camshaft method of valve actuation, after much prompting by his eldest son Jean, on the Type 50 of 1930. The Type 44's twin-block, three-valves-per-cylinder, single-plug engine displaced 2,991cc and produced approximately 80bhp, an output good enough for a top speed of over 75mph. Driving via a four-speed gate-change gearbox, this superb motor was housed in Bugatti's familiar vintage chassis featuring a circular-section front axle and rear quarter elliptics.
Chassis number '441193' features Jean Bugatti's splendid factory-built 'Fiacre' two-door four-seat coupé coachwork, a design that was one of his personal favourites. The car comes with a detailed report compiled in 2003 by independent Bugatti consultant, David Sewell, which reveals that according to the factory records it was completed on 27th November 1929. Fitted with engine number '398', it was invoiced by the factory for FF70,000 to their Belgian agent René de Buck of Brussels. The invoice price of this particular chassis was some FF10,000 higher than normal, so it must been particularly well specified. It was supplied with factory-built 'Fiacre' coachwork costing an additional FF28,960, which was more than 50% higher than the current cost of a standard factory-built saloon. The car was first registered on 1st July 1930 but unfortunately the name of its first owner remains unknown, as does any further history prior to its appearance in Hugh Conway's 1962 Bugatti Register where it is listed as owned by J Hassan of 37 Rue Malar, Paris 7 with a note that the car was kept in Morocco.
In January 1967, the Type 44 was registered '737 HR 74' in the Départment of Haute Savoie and by 1973 had passed into the ownership of Uwe Hucke, a leading Bugatti authority, who placed it on display in the Automuseum in Nettelstedt, Germany. While in his ownership the car was entered in the 1989 International Bugatti Meeting in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. A photograph of the car appears in
the second edition of the book 'Bugatti, Dokumentation einer Automobilmarke' by Uwe and his wife Monika Hucke published in 1976 by the motor museum at Bad Oeynhausen.
An unpublished German Bugatti register dated 1989 lists the car as owned by W Helmerding of Bad Oeynhausen, with a bracketed entry querying whether the car had by that date been sold. The next owner, Heinrich Risken of Bad Rothenfelde in Germany (proprietor of a meat products company) bought the Bugatti circa 1983 from a friend who owned the Bad Oeynhausen museum, presumably Herr Helmerding.
While in Herr Risken's ownership, the car was fully restored (in the 1990s), the engine being completely rebuilt by a Swiss Bugatti specialist, the chassis and suspension overhauled, the interior re-trimmed and the car repainted in its current colour scheme of red/black (from yellow/black). (Full details of this most extensive renovation are contained within Mr Sewell's five-page report). On completion, '441193' was sent to Ivan Dutton in the UK to be fully checked over, tuned and road tested, after which it remained, unused, in Herr Risken's private collection until 2003. Concluding his '03 report, David Sewell described '441193' as 'a quite outstanding motor car, a truly superlative example of the Type 44 which is widely regarded as the best of the Bugatti touring models. A very great deal of money has been spent some years ago to return it to virtually as-new condition throughout, both mechanically and cosmetically, since when it has hardly, if ever, been driven.'
In May 2003 the car passed into the ownership of Dr Christopher Essen and was allocated the age-related UK registration 'UAS 803'. Dr Essen participated for one day during the International Meeting in the UK in 2004 when the car won the Taylor Trophy at the BOC Concours at Prescott. While in Dr Essen's ownership the car was mechanically overhauled (towards the end of 2004) by Malcolm Gentry, the brakes, transmission, rear axle, instruments and crankshaft damper all receiving attention. Chassin made new front springs; John Marks of Vintage Restorations restored the instruments and Eddie Heasell rebuilt the dynamo.
'441193' was sold in June 2007 to the present owner, living in the South of France, and in May 2009 completed the Bugatti International Rally, covering 800 kilometres through the Tuscan countryside without incident. Offered with sundry restoration invoices and UK Swansea V5 registration document, '441193' represents a wonderful opportunity to acquire an outstandingly original, fully restored and well sorted Type 44 boasting one of Jean Bugatti's most celebrated coachwork designs.

1937 Bugatti type 57C Berline, Estimate: €120,000-150,000
At the beginning of the nineteen thirties the Bugatti brand was looking for a new lease of life. Its varied and unprofitable range was lacking a unifying and commercially innovative model. It was Jean Bugatti, then aged just 23, who was responsible for designing the new model which would become the type 57. He was supported by two engineers, Picheto and Domboy. They designed a new borne block engine, still in guilloche patterned aluminium, which only kept from its predecessors, for cost reasons, the cylinder and piston dimensions of the previous type 49. The split skirt pistons were in a light alloy. Like the previous Bugatti blocks, it had two overhead camshafts. The cylinder head was fixed. Distribution by a cascade of pinions was moved to the rear of the block, with a connecting Celoron pinion. The crankshaft had five bearings. In addition to the mechanical observations, it should be stated that Bugatti's 8 cylinder block was an exceptional sculpture, both to the eye and to the mechanical mind.


The type 57 was equipped with a 3.3 litre inline 8 cylinder engine which demands 19 hp. The engine capacity and stroke were 72 x 100 mm. It was fed by a Stromberg twin carburettor. The ignition was made by Bosch, while the electrical equipment, including the starter, was made by Scintilla. The clutch was a dry single disc clutch. The gear box had four forward gears and reverse, with no synchronisation because its easy handling did not require it with regard to the driving standards of the time.
All these mechanics were installed onto a very classic chassis produced by Bugatti.

Our Bugatti 57 has chassis number 57477 which dates the chassis production to the year 1937 as confirmed by the booklets presented by the brand when it left the factory. The motor number is 57479/347. It was originally equipped with a compressor but during its development one of its owners has removed this equipment.

With the type 57, Ettore Bugatti practiced the same marketing policy as with the previous models, that is he offered a range of body work from the factory, which was designed by his son Jean, but gladly agreed to provide the chassis exposed and only equipped with the mechanics and radiator grille. This was the case for chassis no. 477 which is in our Bugatti. This was sold on 13 February 1937 by the dealer Monestier to a client by the name of Mr. Balay, who then had the body work made for it.

The car has a surprising 4 door saloon body work with no uprights. The principle is that you open the front doors first in order to then manoeuvre the back doors which do not have exterior handles. The treatment of the roof and the rear section making up the boot is proof of a clear focus on fluidity and elegance. The treatment of the rear window is particularly noticeable, but also the tips of the rear wings, including the lights, and the tail moulding on the boot lid. These body work effects are not unlike the style of the body work specialists Figoni & Falashi, and Saoutchik.

The car is in a good restored and operating condition. The interior upholstery of the car is in brown leather in a very good original condition. With the style of its body work and the prestige of its chassis, this elegant saloon is the ideal car to combine a passion for Bugatti with long family trips!
No reserve

Lot No: 250*

No reserve, 1925 Bugatti Brescia Type 22 Roadster
Chassis no. 2461
Engine no. 879
Sold in aid of the Fondazione Damiano Tamagi

Over the course of the past few months, the car offered here has become one of the most celebrated of all Bugattis, having lain submerged beneath the waters of Lake Maggiore in Switzerland for more than 70 years. The whereabouts of the sunken Bugatti had been known to the local sub aqua club for many years but in February 2008 a tragedy occurred that would eventually lead to its retrieval. On the 1st of that month, Damiano Tamagni was attacked by three youths and beaten so severely that he later died from his injuries. Damiano and his father Maurizio were both members of the local sub aqua club in Ascona (Centro Sport Subacquei Salvataggio Ascona, CSSS) and it was decided to raise the Bugatti and use the funds from its sale to further the work of a charity set up in Damiano's name, 'Fondazione Damiano Tamagi', which seeks to address the issue of juvenile violence.
But how did the Bugatti come to be in Lake Maggiore in the first place? Subsequent research has uncovered much of its history. On the 11th April 1925, chassis number '2461' was registered in Nancy, France in the name of Georges Paiva, 49 Rue des Dominicains with the number '8843 N 5'. A small brass plate found on the car after its removal from the lake bears the name 'Georges Nielly, 48 Rue Nollet, Paris' but the registration plate is only partly legible, the last digits being 'RE 1'. This registration was issued in Paris between May and June 1930, which perhaps indicates that Georges Nielly bought the car earlier in 1930 at Nancy and had it registered in Paris in his name. These French registration plates have remained on the Bugatti ever since.
The Bugatti chassis number plate is missing, as is the enamel Bugatti radiator badge. Apart from that, all the relevant numbers are to be found in their usual places. The chassis number '2461' is on the round boss, located on the right front engine bearer (on the side of the exhaust manifold and steering-box) while the engine number '879' is visible on the little round boss, located on top in the middle of the cam box, as well as at the front face of the lower crankcase, next to the water pump.
The gearbox bears the number '964' at the back as well as the usual place on the cover. The rear axle has no number, which is normal for a Bugatti Brescia, but the ratio is stamped on the central casing and reads '12 x 45'. The radiator is made by Chausson, as indicated on a plate just above the cranking handle, while the two rear spring carriers still bear the little brass plates with 'EB, Bugatti, Molsheim (Alsace)' on them. Contrary to the factory data, which mentions a Solex carburettor, the actual carburettor on the car is a bronze Zenith, correct for this type of Bugatti. The two magnetos (twin ignition) are made by SEV and mounted in the middle of the dashboard as usual for this type of car.
There are indications that the body may have been modified or replaced, the first one being, probably, a simple racing body lacking electrics and mudguards. The valances below the bonnet are in two pieces, where normally they would be in one piece, while the mudguards are slightly flared at the rear, which is unusual for 1925. All this possibly indicates a modified or new body made at the end of the 1920s.
So far, it has not been possible to determine with certainty the identity of the Bugatti's owner in Ascona. However, the most likely candidate is Marco (Max) Schmuklerski, a Zurich-born architect of Polish descent. He is known to have stayed in Ascona from 17th July 1933 until 25th August 1936 when he left and returned to Zurich. At Ascona he designed, among other buildings, the 'Casa Bellaria' an apartment block that has only recently been demolished. If Marco Schmuklerski studied architecture at the famous Beaux Arts school in Paris, it is possible that he bought the Bugatti from Georges Nielly and brought it back to Switzerland but without paying any import duties. It is also possible that he acquired the car from a French tourist (or client) at Ascona. Whatever the case, the Bugatti has always been driven in Switzerland with its last French plates and import duties have never been paid. Nor has the car ever been registered with Swiss plates.
The story going around Ascona is that Marco Schmuklerski left in 1936, leaving behind the Bugatti, which was stored in the yard of a local building contractor, Barra. Its owner at this time is not known, but the local customs officers knew of the car's existence and insisted on payment of the import duties owed. At that point these duties may have amounted to more than the value of the Bugatti, which was 11 years old and well used. In the case of non-payment of the duties, the car had to be destroyed and the simplest way to do so was to tip it into the nearby lake. To facilitate its recovery the Bugatti was attached to a heavy chain, but when this finally corroded away the car fell to the lakebed at a depth of 53 metres.
It remained there, undiscovered, until 18th August 1967 when diver Ugo Pillon located the mythical Bugatti, which was lying on its left side, partly buried in the mud. Pillon had been searching for it for some time and after its rediscovery the car became a popular target members of the local sub aqua club. On 12th July 2009, after a 73-year sojourn in Lake Maggiore, the Bugatti was finally rescued from the lake by Jens Boerlin and his comrades from Ascona's sub aqua club. Local dignitaries and members of the Bugatti Club Suisse were in attendance, and the whole story was covered in a report by Renato de Lorenzi shown on Television Ticinese (RSI 1) on 23rd July 2009.
The Bugatti was transferred by crane onto a trailer for inspection by the sizeable crowd of onlookers. Its long immersion in the lake had resulted in extensive deterioration, ferrous components being badly affected, particularly on the car's exposed right-hand side. Other materials like wood, aluminium, brass, rubber, etc have survived in much better condition. It would, of course, be possible to restore the car, but it has been estimated that only some 20% of the original is reusable. Alternatively, a faithful replica could be created, using '2461' as a pattern, for approximately the same cost as a full restoration. Arguably, it would be more appropriate to preserve the Brescia in its current state for static display, but that is for the fortunate new owner to decide.
No reserve
Estimate: €70,000 - 90,000

Lot No: 282
1927 Bugatti Type 44 Roadster
Ettore Bugatti remains one of the most remarkable creators in the history of the automobile, followed half a century later by Enzo Ferrari.

Born in Milan on 15 September 1881, he built his first car in 1898 and had already been victorious in a race from Nice to Castellane.

His parents were both artists. His father, Carlo, a cabinet maker, painter and goldsmith produced furniture in a very personal style and his brother, Rembrandt, was an animal sculptor whose bronzes are still as sought after as his brother Ettore's cars. His son, Jean, who was killed in a car test, had already proven that he had the necessary talents to be a worthy successor to his father.

Belonging to a family of artists since its first models, the Bugattis are firstly considered as works of art. Before he was thirty, he had created eight models of automobiles whose technical performance was accompanied by a focus on elegance in all the parts that made the automobile a work of art, an art in which speed was allied to beauty and colour.

After buying from him in 1913 a 5 litre car that is still known as Black Bess, Roland Garros, who became a friend of Bugatti's, paid tribute to him by dedicating his photograph by writing on it: "Bugatti, a man who possesses the gift of giving steel a soul".

The Bugattis had numerous victories in competition, and one point peculiar to the marque is that the cars produced and entered for races by the factory were identical to those sold to individual clients. About 7,800 to 8,000 cars were built between the start of production at Molsheim in 1909 and 1956, and since then a large number of Bugattis have miraculously seen the light of day.

The Bugatti presented is a Type 44, of which 1,095 examples were produced between 1927 and 1930. It is powered by an engine with eight cylinders in two groups totalling 2199 cc, bore/stroke 69 x 100 mm, three valves per cylinder and driven by an overhead camshaft.

The Type 44 chassis allows them to be covered with comfortable coachwork often carried out by Gangloff, as well as by the other great coachbuilders of the time.

We can only attribute with certainty the number 441139 to one of them. Nevertheless, the indentation to the door of this elegant roadster evokes the models produced by Pourtout. The surrounding wings and the profile of the upper part of the boot seems to indicate that the coachwork that currently covers this chassis came several years after it left the chassis factory.

The current owner bought this car in 1990, and the previous owner had owned it since 1973. It's interesting to note that according to Bruno Vendiesse (who sold the car to the current owner) the previous owner had swaped the car with the Schlumpf Brothers for a Peugeot. Substantial restoration work was carried out up to 1993 and we have in our possession a very substantial file of invoices from Jean Novo, a specialist in the marque established in Marolles in Hurepoix: a complete service of engine, chassis, gearbox, and of the coachwork by the company Elne de St Vincent du Lorouèr: wood fittings, sheet metal planishing, painting and trim, and many other invoices from different suppliers for supplies of various parts and specialist work.


The car is presented in excellent condition and the test we carried out was completely satisfactory. Apart from assessing the driving experience and the quality of the steering, we had the pleasure of hearing the unforgettable musical noise produced by a Bugatti eight-cylinder engine when going at full speed.

We can recall that in 1994 this Bugatti took part with us in a Laurent Perrier Antibes rally. More recently, some work was carried out to the fuel pump and the water radiator was replaced, but the previous one is in the boot of the car.

Normal vehicle registration document
Estimate: €120,000 - 160,000

23 Jan 2010 Rétromobile Salon, Porte de Versailles, Paris
1929 Bugatti Type 44 'Fiacre' Coupé chassis no.441193 Engine no.398
Not sold


23 Jan 2010 Rétromobile Salon, Porte de Versailles, Paris
No reserve, 1925 Bugatti Brescia Type 22 Roadster chassis no.2461 engine no.879
Sold for €260500 inclusive of Buyer's Premium


23 Jan 2010 Rétromobile Salon, Porte de Versailles, Paris
No reserve, 1937 Bugatti Type 57C Berline
Sold for €158700 inclusive of Buyer's Premium


23 Jan 2010 Rétromobile Salon, Porte de Versailles, Paris
1927 Bugatti Type 44 Roadster
Sold for €157550 inclusive of Buyer's Premium

Did I get this right ?
If I could find a more battered, incomplete rusty car with some added history I can sell it for more money ?
You could almost buy the T44 and the T57 for the Brescia's money.

Unbelievable, this result for the Brescia. Great for the foundation who gets the benefits though ! Is this a case of "added history = added value"?

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"Barttore has left the forum"

Yes it is now clear that restoring Bugattis is a big mistake in financial terms.We would be far better off if we just throw them all in a lake,and wait for them to increase in value.

Send over your type 40, my neighbour has a pond!

It truly is amazing.

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Vive la Marque !!

Did the T44 not sell then?

It is a pretty car in the pictures, some would say less so in real life..slightly awkaward proportions from some angles.. does anybody know what the bidding went to?

The Fiacre probably did not met the reserve. Indeed a very nice car.

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Vive la Marque !!

For the Brescia, 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...

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Make your dream devour your life, so that life doesn't devour your dream.
[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]

god give peter mullin a long life. the idea to present bugattis in unrestored form ( up from the several arlette cars to the sea-brescia) should be enough for hundrets of oscars.

maybe he was stuck by the old sarlat-premise, which presented the sleeping beauties of douvaz in the right suroundings.

regards
mike

fyi -- Peter Mullin acquired Otis Chandler's (ex-LA Times) old private museum location and thus where the new museum is being setup. Should be a nice facility when done. Opening upcoming from what I last heard. (link --> http://www.mullinautomotivemuseum.com)

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me: Mark - home: Gilbert, Arizona now

my pics

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http://www.forum-du-cavallino.com

Splendid photograph of the Brescia

Beautiful photos however the side is overcrowded, I think it should better in the photo side > Album ...