1925 Type 13 Brescia 2365

This car is rumoured to have been Jean Bugatti’s own car. It is one of probably only three Type 13 racing cars remaining which are known to retain all of their original mechanical parts including engine, gearbox, axles, radiator and chassis. In this case even the dashboard, bulkhead, all controls, lamps and brackets, switches, air pump, taps and gauges are original to this car. Often overlooked components such as the exhaust system and battery box had also been retained with the car for almost 100 years. Thus it is an exceptionally important part of early Bugatti history and a fascinating insight into the construction methods used on these cars..

During 2022 we commenced a very careful restoration of this previously un-restored Bugatti. On this project one of the most important aspects was conserving the factory finishes we found. Parts such as the bulkhead and front valance still retained much of the original Bugatti paint so upmost care was taken to preserve this. Idiosyncratic features only found on this car such as the headlamps with their original bracketry and tubular gear and brake lever were carefully retained. Even the original fasteners were reused throughout , in some cases having to be reworked back into life!

Having no evidence of bodywork other than the oval fuel tank and original bonnet we painstakingly researched the 1925 cars and reconstructed the missing panels and coach trimming.