Hi Andrew.

The history that is offered for sale, do you mind telling us what it is comprised of? Are we talking about a verbal history which will be shared with after you've paid the ransom, or is it backed up by photographs, logbooks, factory documentation etc?

If it should be the former you are quite correct in refusing to pay up. However if it is actual verifiable documentation then perhaps you might, in the interest of reuniting 37265 with all existing paraphernalia to completely and accurately document her provenance, consider biting the bullet and pay this individual his exorbitant fee.

I am admittedly a rather feeble-minded fellow, but even idiots can have epiphanies ; in my own personal, and not entirely humble opinion the owner of 37265's 'sacred scrolls' is just not a very discerning gentleman.

Good luck Andrew, I really mean that.

Johan Buchner

Hi Johan

For me your English speech is translatable with much difficulty. It is damage!

The message is addressed to Andrew. It will certainly understand!!!

It does a true work of archaeologist.

Bravo !

My understanding is the history is comprised of names and addresses of 9 owners from 1927 to 1938 (seems like a lot), and also name of owner and address from 1946 to 1951 and name of owner and address for owner in 1955 (whose widow is still alive) and who sold the car to Otto Zipper in US. Car went to 7 different districts in France, including Lille and Paris.

It would include a picture in 1938, and 55 pictures of the car from 1946 to 1951 (from the owner's photo album). I have a collage of these pictures, but they don't shed a lot of light on the history, as the pictures I have are currently very similar.

It also includes the 1927 original Paris Registration. Maybe this lists the original first owner, but I don't know this. Certainly, we already know from Bugatti Magnum that the car went to the Paris Showroom in May 1927.

I am not sure what other logbooks or factory documentation this gentleman has. Certainly, he would have access to them.

Any different thoughts now? What value would you place on this history and provenance (in euros)?

This is not easy, not at all. Herewith my personal opinion ; it would appear unlikely (to me) that information like a name and/or address can be held exclusively by one individual. I have my doubts as to whether such information could have an inherent financial worth, however the value of such information, especially to you the owner, is near price-less.

Assets, or objects, for lack of a better word, like registration documents (9 owners from 1927 - 1938. Indeed, it does seem like a lot), log-books, the notes and written remarks of previous owners, invoices for work done on the car and such like would, I suppose, have a monetary value, but as to the amount I do not have a clue. Perhaps some of the Bugatti owners who contribute to this forum have had similar experiences they would be willing to share?

Just to state the plainly obvious for the record : In the interest of serving the whole of Ettore Bugatti's legacy it would be best for the historic accoutrements to be preserved alongside Bugatti T37, chassis number 37265, but (and it's quite a big but) talk is cheap. Whatever happens I won't have to pay for it.

Kind Regards
Johan Buchner

He is asking approximately 1% of the value of the car. I should be able to find a lot of the information myself, but I do think there is some information that he has, that I will not be able to find elsewhere. As a result, some of that information might be worth "more" to me.

you are of course the only buyer so he will have to make a sensible price soon.

This is a conundrum indeed, 1% of the price of a T37 with a verifiable provenance is, unless I'm very much mistaken, a hell of a lot of money to pay for a few documents, assorted photographs and some verbal history. However, it could just be worth it.

The seller obviously believe that he has something of value, and on the face of it he does seem to have a point. On the other hand there is only one potential buyer and that would be the current guardian of 37267 - that is you Andrew. I'm loath to advise someone on how to spend their hard-earned money but I guess it all depends on whether you consider the for-sale items to be merely very expensive or whether it represents a total rip-off.

But I'm very much the wrong man to ask ; all I can think of is how many books I can get for that kind of dough!

As I said, a conundrum indeed.

Kind Regards
Johan Buchner

PS. Only after I posted did I see Lazarus' post ; he makes a very good point. Actually he makes exactly the same point as me, he just use fewer words!

as usual.

You win.

damn.

J

It's no fair that you all know each other, and get to joke with each other! I guess I'll have to get in on the action (when I can find enough time!)

Thanks,

Andrew

Dear Andrew,It is risky to "joke" with Johan !He seems to be a man of leisure and consequently able to spent inordinate amounts of time plotting his riposts.Those of us who spend our days fettling Bugattis do not have this luxury,and must be short and sharp.You are lucky to have a nice T37.I would not worry about the past history so much and get on MAKING the cars history and enjoying driving the beast.I will never forget my first drive in a T37.I had a morgan at the time and to my surprise the T37 was more comfortable than the morgan.I drove mine daily for three years in London with no electric starter.GREAT CAR.

Too true ; if I was fortunate enough to own a Bugatti I certainly wouldn't spend my time on this forum! Small correction Lazarus, the time I spend on the forum is not due to a surplus of leisure time, it requires serious neglect of my job! Like right now for instance, the library is buzzing with students and I have not done a stitch of work the entire morning - indeed, life is Hell in Africa.

Johan

If my 4 kids didn't take so much time, I might be able to drive my T37 a little more! Also, to license the car to drive it on the road it 8% of the car's value!!!! So, I'm not sure if I'll just race it, but certainly it's quite expensive to make it a daily driver.

In the Netherlands, you pay 3 sorts of tax:
-VAT/TAX which is 19% over the declared value.
-Import duties (no idea of the value for a classic car, probably between 2 and 5%)
-BPM which is approx 40% of the value, and you get a discount of 0,4% for every month the car is old. So for cars that are 100 months old, you pay no BPM.

On top of that you pay for some security tests, import, etc.

Hows the regulations in your country?

_________________
Vive la Marque !!

I think each state is different. I live in Colorado, where you pay a sales tax with the license plate for the car. So, in Colorado, I would pay 8% of the car's value to license my car to drive it on the road.

In Montana, I believe, if you keep the car there, you simply pay a license fee, and no sales tax, so it would be much less expensive to license the car in Montana. But there might be some rules about keeping the car there, which I would need to research.