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'Drowned' Bugatti sells for £228k
26 January 2010
This Bugatti Type 22 has been sold at auction for £228,000 - despite spending the last 70 years under the surface of Lake Maggiore in northern Italy.
The car, which had a 30bhp 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine and an advanced multi-valve cylinder head, was first registered in 1925 in Paris, before being unofficially imported to Switzerland by a young architect.
With the Swiss government demanding import duty and the then out-dated car being all but worthless, the cheapest solution was for the car to be pushed into the lake.
Local divers discovered the wreck in the 1960s, 53 metres below the surface and embalmed in mud.
Last year, a salvage team recovered the Bugatti, revealing one side in much better condition than the other as the lake’s mud had helped to preserve it.
The Bugatti was then auction in the Retromobile Auction, fetching £228,000 - £160,000 more than the highest estimate. The winning bidder plans to display the car in its current condition.
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