This Barn Find Bugatti Just Sold for a World Record Price

BOLD RIDE

Copyright © 2015 Bold Ride LLC.

 

Posted by Zach Doell

 

 

For the last 40 years, this rare 1925 Bugatti Brescia has sat untouched, under a tarp, housed within a small French barn. Today, it’s the most expensive example of its kind in the world. 

 

The stunning barn find Bugatti Brescia crossed the auction block earlier this week at Artcurial Motorcars’ Automobiles sur les Champs sale in Paris, estimated to sell between $170,000 and $280,000.

 After competitive bidding, the rarified Bugatti sold for $951,216, setting a world record for Brescia models in the process. Then again, it’s no ordinary car.

This Bugatti, Brescia chassis 2628, was originally purchased by French Bugatti enthusiast Bernard Terrillon, and wears bodywork hand crafted by coachbuilder Maron Pot et Cie from Levallois-Perret. Only 12 are known to still exist, with this example having been in the same family since 1953, and at one point accompanied by three other Bugattis.

 

The Brescia models trace their genealogy back to the very first car Ettore Bugatti constructed in his Molscheim factory, the Type 13. Sporting advanced and powerful multi-valve engines, Bugatti took the cars racing at the 1921 Grand Prix of Italy at Brescia, and the Type 13s took the top four places.

Reflective of that impressive performance, the Brescia name caught on. Over the better part of a decade, around 2,000 16- and 8-valve Brescias were produced.

The Bugatti wasn’t the only car to notch world record auction prices either. Five other record earners included a 1970 Porsche 911 S/T 2.3-liter rallye coupe ($1,032,726), 1966 Alpine A210 Le Mans race car ($543,552), 1976 Maserati Khamsin ($312,588), 1978 Ferrari 308 GTB ($230,964), and 1972 Fiat Dino 2400 Spider ($214,662).

All totaled, the entire auction shifted a dazzling $12.7 million worth of collector cars. That’s a bit light on the legendary $25 million sold from Artcurial’s Baillon barn find bonanza collection, but sizable nonetheless.


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