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RESCUE TIME: The 1925 Bugatti was hauled out of the depths of Lake Maggiore in 2009. Now it might bring nearly R1-million at auction.
Like many second-hand cars, it could do with a drop or two of WD40, but considering it's spent more than 70 years at the bottom of a lake this one is in relatively good condition - and could fetch R960 000 at auction.
The rare 1925 touring Bugatti was pushed into the water by a frustrated tax official in 1936 after the owner abandoned it in Switzerland without paying the appropriate import tax.
Because the value of the car was less than the money owed, the customs officer was duty-bound to destroy it - and decided to push it into Lake Maggiore. Then, in 1967, the car was re-discovered by diver Ugo Pillon who was curious to find out if there was any truth to the story.
He found the Bugatti lying on its side about 50m below the surface and from then on members of the local diving club regularly visited it. Eventually it was brought to the surface in July 2009 by the club to raise money to fund a charity that addresses juvenile violence and founded after a fellow diver died after being beaten up by three youths.
The 1925 touring Type 22 Bugatti was built in Brescia, Italy, and was first registered in Nancy, France. A small brass plate on the car bears the name 'George Nielly, 48 Rue Nollet, Paris'. It was registered in his name in 1930.
The car had four cylinders, a 1.5-litre engine and could reach almost 160km/h. It was a two-seater with no roof, and was very light. Later versions of the car were made in France but this was known as a Brescia Bugatti after the Italian town where it was manufactured.
Who owned it in Ascona, Switzerland has not been determined but auctioneers Bonhams believe the most likely candidate is Marco (Max) Schmuklerski, a Zurich-born architect of Polish descent. He worked there as an architect for three years before returning to Zurich.
'WE'VE BEEN OFFERED STRANGE THINGS...
It is possible he acquired the car while studying architecture at the famous Beaux Arts School in Paris where he may have met George Nielly but Schmuklerski brought it back to Switzerland without paying import duties.
Another theory is that he bought the car from a French tourist or client in Ascona. Whatever the case, the car always kept its French plates and import duties were never paid.
Schmuklerski is believed to have left the car behind when he left Ascona where it mouldered in a builder's yard but customs officials became aware of the car's existence and insisted on the import duties being paid. By then the duties could well have amounted to more than the value of the well-used car - it was 11 years old.
The car had to be destroyed in the case of non-payment and the easiest way was to tip it into the nearby lake - though with a heavy chain attached in case it needed to be recovered. The chain rusted away, however, and the car slid to the lake bed.
...BUT NOTHING LIKE THIS'
Incredibly, when it was retrieved in 2009, there was still air in the tyres and traces of the original Bugatti blue on its bodywork. It's believed that 20 percent of the vehicle is salvageable and collectors and museums are said to be keen to buy it.
James Knight, from Bonham's auction house, said: "We've been offered a few strange things in our time in the motoring department, but nothing like this.
"Sometimes we get cars that have been hidden in barns for years, built never have we had one that's spent 70 years at the bottom of a lake."
The sale is scheduled for January 23 at the Bonham's Retromobile sale in France. - London Daily Mail