There wasn't much left of the car when this Bugatti Type 22 Brescia was found at the bottom of a Swiss sow in 2009. Yet it has been renovated and is on display today.
Bugatti – a name synonymous with speed and elegance. But 100 years ago, a rare Bugatti Type 22 Brescia from 1925 ended its days at the bottom of the Swiss lake, Lago Maggiore.
The car's history is marked by accidents and coincidences. The original owner, racing driver René Dreyfus, lost the car in a poker game to Adalbert Bodé.
Bodé, a Swiss adventurer, tried to bring the car into Switzerland but was stopped at the border. Customs refused him entry with the car because it had been won in a game.
Frustrated by the situation, and with no place to store the car, Bodé ended up dumping the Bugatti in Lake Maggiore with the help of customs officials. There it lay for decades, forgotten by most but remembered as a local legend.
In 2009, Maurizio Tamagni decided to raise the car from the depths of the lake. Tamagni, who had lost his son in a tragic incident, wanted to honor his memory by selling the car and donating the money to charity.
With the help of a local diving club, the long-sunken Bugatti was successfully salvaged. After decades under water, the car was in a sorry state. Nevertheless, it attracted a lot of attention at auction, where it was sold for around 650,000 kroner to American collector Peter Mullin.
– The car had been in the water for so long that it is almost dissolved, said a source close to the project.
Mullin restored the Bugatti to the best of his ability, and today it can be admired at the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California.
The story of the sunken Bugatti is a fascinating example of how a car can become a symbol of both good and bad luck, and how after almost 100 years at the bottom of the ocean, it was given new life.
