Fritz and Hans Schlumph purchased the remaining cars and patterns from the Bugatti factory in the late sixties.After they were "expelled" to Switzerland the factory was taken over by the workers [illegally but with the conivance of the french goverment] The reserve stock at a warehouse in Malmasbach was taken under french police control and moved to "safe" storage.Eventually after the death of the two Schlumph brothers,Arlette Schlumph,who had never stopped fighting to get the property back,won her case in court.She was given loads of money and the reserve stock.Quite a lot of things had gone missing whilst in "safe" storage.Patterns were stolen and even complete cars.Bruno Vendiesse,Jack Braun Ruben,and Peter Mullen then bought everything.Peter got most of the Bugattis for his museum in the states.I was the only person interested in the prototype patterns and I bought them.Photos were always forbidden at the Bugatti factory.Of course very few people had cameras either.After the war it was worse,the company were doing military contract work for hispano and there was total secrecy around the development department making the T251 and T252.Fortunately the last boss of the prototype dept had a camera and did take photos inside.You will have to buy my Book....Surprisingly the workers in the factory were also not allowed to go into any dept where they were not working.Even Macoin [seen in one of my photos] a senior designer at the factory did not have right of access to the prototype dept.The photo that i showed here of the T252/3 chassis being built was taken inside the prototype dept by Roger Fellerath the last boss and also test driver.He did 25.000 KMs in the T252.
When I said that the factory was taken over by the workers,I mean of course Schlumphs Museum in his old textile mill.
lazarus - my hat is off to one who "puts his money where his mouth is". thank you for your posts and photos. please direct us to the 'Bugatti site' you refer to. and please also continue to post pictures as much as you wish! Tritone
your imagination is not letting you down.BugattiBuilder is indeed one of the Bugatti sites i frequent.Funny no one has asked me about my Ferrari.....
Well as you ask so nicely here are some photos of my new Type 73c engines,and also T73c005 running in at Goodwood.And lastly my T252 Colombo engine in my T252 replica. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
and again Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
and lastly,because i am wet and cold having worked all day in the rain building a new car shed !! Here is a T73c motor installed in T73c005 and the wooden pattern made during the war [ in Paris ] for the T73c rear axle.The actual axle is also shown. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'll bite what is your Ferrari? Also, I read Bugatti Builder it is a great site and forum to visit. Erik
I dont talk about it ! Just to say that I hated it and gave it away to my girlfriend,she did one small rally and hated it so she sold it.Iam afraid once you have played with Bugattis nothing else will do.
To be fair,it had spent fifteen years of its life in a private museum in Denmark.As a consequence the rubber suspension bushes would have been in poor condition.But it was very low mileage and I was disapointed. I realise that it was the lowest of the low in Ferrari terms !!! Here is the lucky man who bought it. Diana is looking very glad to see the back of it !! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Not sure about that, but I gotta give it to you... these wooden patterns are GREAT! How do you make new pieces then? does it work with pressed sand too? Or do they pour melted aluminum in wooden patterns???
Sand casting has been around since at least the time of the ancient egyptians.The exact methods used have not really changed much since then.At times horsehair and even cow dung have been used to stiffen up the sand over long lengths to keep it together during pouring of the hot metal.These days resin is mixed with the sand which sets off and holds it together.Yesterday I had cast in england one part of the Bugatti T251 engine.It is from the most complicated area in front of the engine.There is a drive out of the middle of the motor,on the right side is a scavange oil pump,then a pressure feed oil pump,oil filter/pressure relief valve,then a magneto.And on the left side is another scavange oil pump,then petrol pumps, a water pump and the second magneto.This is the most complicated Bugatti componant ever produced.People complained that the T251 was taking too long to make in 1954,I am not at all surprised that it took so long to design and make work.It is quite exquisite.I am missing some of the patterns for this assembly,and have to invent them.But now I have the middle [biggest bit] casting out of the five castings that make up the assembly.Not having the drawings is somewhat tiresome as well.But I will succeed.Here is the photo of this extraordinary part.PS.If any of you Italian car people recognise the little petrol pump on this photo,It is certainly Italian,I am trying to find some of them.Please let me know.Ta. Image Unavailable, Please Login
It will stay as a crap where it is by now... the old lady is firm on her price... she remembered her late husband paying 350.000 FF so about 50.000 !!! Finally I've negociated the Lambo alone...and the bench of cars will stay there. After all I spent so much time to find out where was that particular Islero these 3 last years calling people, sending letters, travelling so many times in France for nothing... I'm rewarded since I've discovered it !!! I will sent a "barn find" picture to one of this classic car magazine... after publication may be there will be someone less aggressive & more comprehensive that will tell me what was that car... BIG THANKS to Lazarus, are you living in Belgium ?
Dear Olivier,If you join Bugatti builder.com you can send me a private message.I live in France 86430.This barnfind is interesting.It is made of steel,so was a serious company job.It does look very much like the strange bodied Bugatti's made at that time and shown on this site.But on a completely non bugatti chassis.I think that it should be restored,although I do not think it has any sort of Bugatti value.Usually when cars like this are discovered on Bugatti chassis,they get rebodied as "proper" Bugattis.My friend in Belgium [ RD'I in Bruxelles ] I am sure that you know who I mean,has a couple of similar later bodies put onto T57 chassis [ one is in glassfibre ] not pretty and so the bodies have been removed and RD'I has saved them as "art".I will be in Bruxelles tomorrow night for the preview evening for the Bugatti 100 ans at Autoworld.My T252 is there on display.Maybe we might meet? I like the Islero,my friend Peter Hampton had a 400 from 1963 I think and I always thought that was a stunning car [ although too much like a Volvo P 1800s ! ]
that's true! Like finding a needle in a haystack. I'd love to go to the Bugatti exhibition in Brussels soon.
Yes, that is it - and there are a couple other pictures later in the thread. Doesn't one of them with the open hood show an 8 cylinder engine? Again, like others, I don't see how a straight 8 could fit into the engine bay of this abandoned car in question.