good morning !

the newsletter of the hispano suiza society is running a serie about
hispanos owned by indish maharadjas. thoose waelthy men owned the best and most expansives cars like hispanos, RR, duesenbergs delahayes, maybachs or mercedes, but as far as I know, no bugattis.
although there is a rumor, that some two or three bugattis are now in
india`s largest private car museum.

does anybody know more about bugattis in india ??

regards
mike

Dear Mike:

I recall that in a "Classic & Sportscar" of about 15 to 16 years ago, there was a photo of the remains of a T44 that had recently been found, complete with chassis number in the "Lost and Found" section. If I can dig it out of my six foot pile of C&S magazines, I will sent it to Herman for duplication.

Cheers,

CK

CK -- good memory! (see below)

Also there is a T35 that was discovered @35+ years ago. I have the original pictures / stories somewhere via an old "treasure hunter" friend who found it and then drove across Europe flat-towing it behind his hauler.

Via Jaap Horst's website: (url referenced http://www.bugattipage.com/2004news.htm)

January 12, 2004

Transformed Bugatti in India

This skimpy device is believed to be a 1923 Bugatti Type 23. Current owner Soilen Banerjee from Jodhpur was bequeathed the car by his father who in turn received it from his father who had been gifted the car by the Royal family of Indore. According to Banerjee, an unusual engine swap happened inthe 1930s, the frail original being replaced with a Desoto 'six'. "It was quite a fast car," recalled Banerjee, "and used very little fuel." The Bugatti had no front brakes so must have Does Banerjee's odd-looking T23 have royal connections? been a handful and the radiator was replaced, though the Bugatti badge was carefully riveted to it to retain brand identity. Richard Day, archivist of the Bugatti Trust at Prescott assessed the car: "The car looks like a Bugatti Type 23 with two-seater bodywork by Jarvis. The London agents were Jarrott & Letts which listed this version. The windscreen, bodyline and mudguards look quite similar. The front axle and front of the chassis look original but with several non-standard additions and some omissions such as the curved front crossmember. It would seem that another radiator has been fitted ahead of the correct position and I think the original scuttle must have been cut back to fit the foreign bonnet. Assuming the chassis frame, gearbox, axles, steering and coachwork to the rear of the bonnet are basically original, it looks to be a very nice example. It would be greatly improved if the spurious headlights, radiator, engine and bonnet were removed."

Banerjee reported that despite all the many offers he received over the years, the car is not for sale. And never will be because it's a family heirloom. While it waits to be passed down to the next generation, there's no word on when it will be restored -just that it will be.

Although much modified, there appear to be many traces of original Bugatti in remarkably good condition.

Source: Classic & Sportscar, February 2004

_________________
me: Mark - home: Gilbert, Arizona now

I have been e-mailing for a while with somebody in India, who suggested that in one large car collection, there were as many as 6 Bugattis present. He promised me photographs, but (of course) these never came. This must have been about 5 years ago.

_________________
www.BugattiPage.com
www.BugattiRevue.com
www.BugattiAircraft.com