BUGATTI & R~R PULLED FROM LAKE

[Guest Silverghost]

Was talking to friend about the 1925 Bugatti that was pulled from the lake in europe that sold for $380,000 (search web for Bugatti pulled from lake)

Peter Mullin I believe bought this car for his Bugatti collection in Ca.

The car was half corodded away !

Does anyone remember years ago a Rolls~Royce Phantom I being pulled out of a Pennsylvania quarry lake ?

A rusted gun under on of it's seats.

I never heard about this R~R story ! Would like to hear more about this story !

[1937hd45]

The Mullin Collection is on the very top of my MUST SEE collections, hope to get there if I ever get to the West Coast again. Never knew aboutthe sunken Rolls, but there was a 61-62 Corvette pulled out of a quarry somewere in Vermont or Nerw Hampshire. It was stolen off a new car lot back in the day. I saw it, and think it was parted out never restored.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

I remember reading stories of a 29 Model A cabriolet or sport coupe pulled from a lake in Idaho. They still remembered the car going down while its owner was ice-fishing some 50 years before. Also there was a Mitchell touring brought up from Lake Michigan from a shipload that sank while being delivered from the factory. These stories were in Old Cars Weekly many years ago.

[Clincher]

Ash Cox pulled a Silver Ghost with a hand gun under the seat up from a flooded granite quarry in Quincy, Massachusetts. I think it must have been thirty or forty years ago. The local press wrote it up ("Quincy Patriot Ledger" Newspaper). There may have been some mention of it in "The Flying Lady".

[Ivan Saxton]

In the mid '60's a pre-ww1 Graf& Stift was lifted from the sea in Sweden. There wasn't much left of the body, but as I remember from the item in Veteran and Vintage magazine from UK, they reckonned the car itself was restoreable. The tyres were not much good, but there was still air in them. It seemed they knew when it had fallen in the water.

In South Australia, a Vauxhall 30/98, (which was one of the best English performance/sports vehicles, perhaps apart from the brakes) , went into the Blue Lake at Mt Gambier. This is a very deep volcanic crater lake. It is a long time since I was there, but it is not clear how the car could have got into it, unless it was deliberate. I understand that it was salvaged, restored, and put back on the road. The colour of that lake is quite remarkable, and it is something the tourists go to see.

Bugattis are very satisfying easthetically to look at, and his chassis design was reputed to be outstanding in regard to handling. His engines and brakes were not universally admired, though. He learned nothing much from the visitor's A model Duesenberg at the factory. Alan Powell got very annoyed again at the memory of it when I met him in 1983. After a personally conducted tour of the estate by M. Bugatti, he returned to find a team of mechanics and draftsmen at work on it with the head off and the brakes apart!!! Duesenberg hydraulic brakes were as good as almost anything on the road 40-50 years later, and there was nothing wrong with the combustion chamber design in that era, but Bugatti was only inspired to improve his engines when he bought access to that pair of Miller raing cars in the late 1920's. However, the best way to transform Bugatti brakes is to rebuild the drums with Metco Spraysteel LS metalized spray coating, which has similar efficiency to cast iron, and which is compatible with modern linings. I spoke to a friend a couple of weeks ago to a friend who restored and used a Bugatti for many years. His advice was "Dont'own one"; because they are too idiocratic and fraught with problems. I have always wanted to own one.

[Guest Silverghost]

Ivan: There are many stories about E Bugatti around~

He would not sell his autos to just anyone~

He would invite a potental buyer over to size him up first.

If he did not like you he refued to sell you a car !

One his buyers complained to him that his auto would not start in the cold weather~

Bugatti's reply~

A gentleman keeps his Bugatti in a heated garage !

His cars and his engines are a real work of true machine art !

[West Peterson]

I have often heard that Bugatti engines were a work of art. I cannot understand it, though, because to me they look like a rectangular chunk of metal with some engine turning on the surface.

[1937hd45]

Maybe, at first glance, but after working on them for 14 years I think you would look at then in a different light. I still would love to have a Type 37 GP car in my garage.

I have often heard that Bugatti engines were a work of art. I cannot understand it, though, because to me they look like a rectangular chunk of metal with some engine turning on the surface.

[West Peterson]

So it's the engineering aspect that is a work of art, not the aesthetic aspect. I won't argue on that.

[Rusty_OToole]

That was the French engineer's aesthetic of the time. Their ideal was a cube of metal with a driveshaft out one end and nothing else. All pipes and manifolds to be built in, concealed or enclosed. Likewise wires, control mechanism etc. Manifolds, if exposed, should at least be symmetrical and artistically shaped.

Gabriel Voisin the aircraft pioneer and builder of the Voisin automobile, spoke out in favor of the American school in the late 30s. He agreed that the American engine was an unattractive lump of iron, bristling with wires hoses and pipes. But he pointed out that they were designed from the inside out, not from the outside in, and that their design was efficient, light in weight, low in cost, and durable. Also that the carburetor, generator, wiring, etc were all easy to get at for inspection and repair in case of a breakdown. So from a practical standpoint they were superior, even if they were over the head of the artist who knows nothing about machinery.

In his view the American form follows function school made better sense philosophically as well as from a practical standpoint.

You can see why the Bugatti engine was the last word in French design, even if it had many features that impaired its functionality.

Edited September 27, 2010 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Amphicar BUYER]

I'm fortunate to have one of the best Bugatti resto shops only 1/2 mile from my house. I've watched them from start to finish and to be passed by a type 37 was LOUD and cool! Here's a 1930 Baby Bugatti (electric powered and wood brakes!) my bodyman did for them.

[Jim Rohn]

so no more info on the RR with the gun under the seat (the original topic question)?