"Harold Carr, a surgeon, apparently abandoned the rare Bugatti in his lock-up in northeastern Newcastle after buying it in the 1950s."
The town it was in was newcastle. I didn't care until I remembered this jalopnik article,stating town "tyne" and then remembered I stayed in newcastle in 1996..somewhere in the same town was a 5 million dollar barn car...
Shame that they only found it now. If they had found it say 3 years ago before the financial mess we're in they could probably fetch a much higher asking price. Or they could hold on to it for another 10 years, turning down every offer thrown their way then sell it when people have money again.
@philibuster: New money has gone broke after being over-leveraged and trying to grab for the brass ring on the way around the carousel. Old money has probably had a hiccup or two over their accounts. Old-OLD money is doing just fine.
Cars like this often get bought by old-OLD money. :-)
It spent 50 years, unseen, gathering dust in an old barn, and is quite probably destined to see the next 50 years, unseen, in the equivalent of a much nicer barn.
I think the important thing about restoring something this old, after being stored in a damp garage for 50 years, is that you really CAN'T just buff it and start it right up. It will really need to be taken apart, inventoried, and each part restored before reassembly. Tough job, lots of time and coin. That would be beyond me.
It's a slippery slope, I guess it depends on the true condition of the machine. There's an ever growing sector (see Hemmings) of the community that believes in preserving the "patina" of the cars.
@Rican5.0: That only practically applies to the body of the car, not the drivetrain. At the very least, we're talking about rebuilding the engine, transmission, probably the rear end... I won't go on.
@TheFishGuy: The secret is to drink some water between champagnes, beers and whiskeys. I felt fine this evening when I woke up. My beer, wine and whiskey supplies can't say as much, though.
Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was starred
Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was unstarred
@Mike the Dog: I started to at first, but then things just got a little too hectic, and in my own stupidity, I figured I would just forego it as I was feeling okay at the time. After all, what was the worst that could happen?
a gallon of gatorade and half a bottle of excedrin later....
@pauljones:I had some really good sparkling wine from the Mendoza in Argentina. Brand was Tittarelli, extra brut. Made from chardonnay and pinot noir grapes. While technically not a Champagne, as it isn't from France, it sure was good. No headache either. Try some, it's worth a taste.
@pauljones: I just got it at my local corner niche import shop. I've had real good luck with Mendoza wines recently. The website for the vineyard is below:
Wait, don't tell me... The Bugatti was discovered by Britain's dustrag-wielding darlings Kim and Aggie whilst shooting an episode for the upcoming series "How Clean is Your Tyneside Country Manor House and Stables?", right...?
@crxtra: Don't forget the window louvers, opera windows, fender vents, TURBO badges, rubber-band drivetrain, twin blowers, a rust patina, velour upholstery, Italian head gaskets, skull-driveshaft bumper stickers, glasspacks, Lambo doors, a Fiero chassis, a DAF hood ornament, and SLR Dude driving it into a palm tree with Nick Hogan riding shotgun!
01/02/09
01/02/09
"Harold Carr, a surgeon, apparently abandoned the rare Bugatti in his lock-up in northeastern Newcastle after buying it in the 1950s."
The town it was in was newcastle. I didn't care until I remembered this jalopnik article,stating town "tyne" and then remembered I stayed in newcastle in 1996..somewhere in the same town was a 5 million dollar barn car...
01/02/09
01/01/09
I dunno, even at $4M, it sounds pretty good...
01/01/09
oh please, pretty please?
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01/01/09
Cars like this often get bought by old-OLD money. :-)
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It's a slippery slope, I guess it depends on the true condition of the machine. There's an ever growing sector (see Hemmings) of the community that believes in preserving the "patina" of the cars.
01/01/09
01/01/09
Damn. It needs to be naptime or bedtime, one or the other.
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They SHOULD just buff it out and get it running and NO. MORE.
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a gallon of gatorade and half a bottle of excedrin later....
01/05/09
Unfortunately for us, the guy with £5m gets to say what should happen to it.
Perhaps we can use concentrated psi-power to make the right thing happen.
01/01/09
/super bad hangover
01/01/09
Seriously. No. More. Champagne. Ever.
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Is there a certain store or website that you know of for it?
01/01/09
No sir, that was pure champagne. The scotch reserves were running a little low.
01/01/09
[www.tittarelli.com.ar]
They make a pretty passable malbec vintage as well.
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