Hi guys,
I've learned quite a bit from the Porsche 911 forum over the last few years. One of the things I've learned is that most of you truly love automobiles. Sad story follows:
My father has owned a Bugatti type 57 cabriolet since 1952. He bought for a couple of thousand francs in Bordeaux while stationed there as an air-sea rescue pilot for the USAF. He drove the car throughout Europe and courted my mother with it. When he returned stateside and started a family, the car was stored on blocks and under a surplus parachute in my Grandmothers barn for almost 35 years. Every year, we would go back east and visit her, and my Dad would pull the plugs and pour oil into the cylinders, put mothballs in (kept stray mice from eating the upholstery) and put a preservative on the chrome. Every few years he would inflate the tires, roll it out and fire it up. Great clouds of smoke and lots of belching, then off we'd go...that dohc straight-eight made a wonderful noise.
About 14 years ago my parents finally built their retirement house and my dad built a large workshop and garage next door. He would spend hours tinkering with the car and it showed. He drove the car every summer, and I drove it with him whenever I could. (Great to drive, a bit heavy, but the view down that long cowl was wonderful). I usually managed to grind one or two gears, but my dad double-clutched flawlessly.
Now the sad part. My father phoned me yesterday evening and told me that the garage had caught fire, burned down and the Bugatti and his workshop were destroyed. He's being pretty stoic about it, but I know that it just broke his heart. He's owned this car for
54 years. I don't know if it can be salvaged in any way, but in any event it will probably be way too expensive to rebuild it. He had it insured, but for far less than the car was probably worth. I'm going to try and talk to some restoration experts and get some thoughts on the whole thing. (If anyone knows some good specialists, I'd appreciate an email)
Here are a few pics of the car taken not too long ago, and a link to the local newspaper.
http://www.sanjuanislander.com/groups/fire_san_juan/09-11-2006.shtml
