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The rare Bugatti car plucked from lake after 70 years

Like many second-hand cars, it could do with a drop or two of WD40.
But considering it has spent more than 70 years at the bottom of a lake, this one is in relatively good condition - and could fetch £80,000.
The rare 1925 touring Bugatti was pushed into the water by a frustrated tax official in 1936 after the owner abandoned it in Switzerland without paying the appropriate import tax.

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The 1925 Bugatti is raised from Lake Maggiore in Switzerland after spending 70 years at the bottom
Heading back to land. The 1925 Bugatti is raised from Lake Maggiore in Switzerland after being submerged for 70 years

The 1925 touring Bugatti
The town's diving club decided to recover the car to sell it and raise money for charity

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This restored car shows what the vehicle would have looked like back in the 1930s

Because the value of the car was less than the money owed, the customs officer was duty bound to destroy it  -  and decided to push it into Lake Maggiore.
Then, in 1967, the car was re-discovered by a diver, Ugo Pillon, who was curious to find out if there was any truth to the story.
He found the Bugatti lying on its side over 160ft below the surface and from then on members of the local diving club regularly visited it.
It was brought back up to the surface in July of last year by the club to raise money to fund a charity which addresses juvenile violence. It was founded after a fellow diver died after being beaten up by three youths. 

The 1925 touring Type 22 Bugatti was built in Brescia in Italy and was first registered in Nancy, France. A small brass plate found on the car bears the name 'George Nielly, 48 Rue Nollet, Paris'. It was registered in his name in 1930.
The car had four cylinders, a 1.5 litre engine and could reach almost 100 miles an hour. It was a two-seater with no roof and was very light.

The Bugatti was pulled up from its resting place - on its side over 160ft (50m) below the surface
 The Bugatti was a two-seater with no roof and very light. It could reach speeds of almost 100mph

No reserve, 1925 Bugatti Brescia Type 22 Roadster
A diver by the car which was found in the lake in 1967, 30 years after it was dumped there by customs officials. Amazingly, there was still air in the tyres (below)


No reserve, 1925 Bugatti Brescia Type 22 Roadster

Later versions of the car were made in France, but this was known as a Brescia Bugatti, after the Italian town where it was manufactured.
As to who owned it in Ascona, Switzerland, it has not been determined, however, auctioneers Bonhams believe the most likely candidate is Marco (Max) Schmuklerski, a Zurich-born architect of Polish descent.
He is known to have worked there for three years, designing a number of buildings, before returning to Zurich.
It is possible he acquired the car while studying architecture at the famous Beaux Arts school in Paris where he may have met George Nielly. But Mr Schmuklerski brought it back to Switzerland without paying import duties.
Another theory is that he bought the car from a French tourist or client in Ascona. Whatever the case, the car always kept its French plates and import duties were never paid.
Mr Schmuklerski is believed to have left the car behind when he left Ascona and it then remained stored in a builder's yard.
But customs officials became aware of the car's existence and insisted on the import duties being paid. By this time the duties could well have amounted to more than the value of the well-used car which was 11 years old.

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The car was put on display after being pulled from the lake which stretches from Italy into Switzerland

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Proceeds from the sale of the car will go towards a charity which tackles juvenile violence

In the case of non-payment, the car had to be destroyed and the easiest way to do so was to tip it into the nearby lake.
But should it ever be needed to be recovered a heavy chain was attached. However this finally corroded away and the car fell to the lakebed at a depth of 160ft.
Incredibly, when it was retrieved last summer, there was still air in the tyres and traces of the original Bugatti blue on its bodywork.
It's believed that 20 per cent of the vehicle is salvageable and collectors and museums are said to be keen to buy it.

No reserve, 1925 Bugatti Brescia Type 22 RoadsterNo reserve, 1925 Bugatti Brescia Type 22 Roadster

Clockwise from top left: The front of the car, with its grille and a headlamp; the battery, the seating area with the remains of the steering wheel visible; and, finally, part of the dashboard with the oil measure (right)

No reserve, 1925 Bugatti Brescia Type 22 RoadsterNo reserve, 1925 Bugatti Brescia Type 22 Roadster


James Knight, from Bonhams auction house, said: ‘We have offered a few things in our time in the motoring department, but nothing like this.

‘Sometimes we get cars that have been hidden in barns for years, built never have we had one that's spent 70 years at the bottom of a lake.
‘The story as we know it is that in the late 1920s or early 1930s the car was taken to Switzerland by its French owner.
‘Eventually the customs official got fed up and pushed it into the lake. He was legally obliged to destroy it and rolling it into the lake seemed the best way.'
All money raised will go towards the Damiano Tamagni Foundation which is based in the town.
The sale is on January 23 at the Bonhams Retromobile sale in France.

The car still had air in its tyres and traces of the original Bugatti blue on its bodywork
Preserved: The car still had traces of the original Bugatti blue on its bodywork

The car seen from the reverse shows how much it corroded over the years
Seen from another angle the state of the car's disintegration becomes more apparent

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How it would have looked: A similar blue Bugatti

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