my story
the beginning
the first times
It all really started in the early 90s, my father drives an Amilcar CGSS but he has been looking at Bugattis for a long time. A good friend tells him about a Type 37 project for sale. This begins my family's involvement and love of Bugatti's. At that time, my favorite book is The Magnum by Maurice Sauzay and Hugh Conway. I am lucky to live near Bruno Vendiesse and the arrival of a Bugatti at his house gives me the chance to take photos and dream. In 1997, still too young to have a driver's license, he allows me to drive my first Bugatti on the open road... a Brescia.
I have to confess that Bugatti was not initially my favorite brand. I started like somany children, with Ferrari. My holy grail was the 250 GTO... For as long as I can remember, this car with its incredible body lines has always moved me! The simple symphony of the V12 GTO immediately pulls me back to Zolder in 1985. I was 6 years old and I ran to the fences laps after laps to watch, but above all to hear it : what a sound. Around the age of 10, I seriously considering including a Bugatti 51 in my dream garage. In 1992, my mind was made up : it would be the No.“14” Ex Trintignant with all its scars..
drive, drive, drive !
Completed just in time for the second Divonne-les-Bains Rally, the family 37 is the facilitator of my budding passion. Carpentras, Angoulême, Monthléry, Nurburgring: memories of incredible outings and so many places to meet new people and make beautiful friendships. Since 1995, several Bugattis have passed through the family garage. A Brescia project, then a T30 project... a 40 Roadster, then a Grand Sport... and finally one of the best Type 35A. The important thing is to drive and use them.
original....
A few years later, in December 2003, I found an advertisement on the Internet for the sale of a completely original Type 40, chassis number no. 40816. This is my first encounter with such an original and unrestored car. After a major mechanical overhaul, we were among the first to declare the importance of preserving originality. It is impossible to "restore to original"... a car wears its history and can only be original once.
my own choices....
In 2001, I am enrolled at the Dijon Business School, when I organize my first Bugatti Rally in Burgundy. Upon completion of my studies, I join the Noretal company which, at the time, was selling food trucks. My first old car is a René Bonnet Matra Djet, bought in the south of France and quickly sold because this car is not old enough for me. For my second, I buy a project Amilcar CGSS in Italy. I gathered some of the missing parts but one of my friends wants it, so it leaves in favor of a Riley Imp. It's a beautiful car but I don't keep it because what I really want is a Bugatti. I almost buy a T-40 in Australia but I am competing with someone from the country. My offer is not accepted! Soon enough, I win at an English auction a Lombard AL3 cabriolet ex Serge Pozzoli which is in fact the Coupe from the 1927 Paris Salon. It is not a preservation candidate, so I restore the car with its original livery.
today and tomorrow...
I successfully complete the restoration of the Lombard. Its is very beautiful and a source of great pride, but it is not a Bugatti. It ultimately leaves home to make room for a 40 Grand Sport purchased in 2008. It is a major project to preserve the originality of this car that the previous owner had enjoyed for 50 years and whose chassis frame still wears the original paint! A Delage D8 modified into a van, a Tracta with a possible sporting history pass through my garage... but my attachment to Bugatti remains strong... A Brescia and T30 projects keep me busy when I'm not organizing Bugatti gatherings.
Since the first Bugatti outing in Burgundy in 2001, Anne and I have taken the pre-war Alfa and Bugatti groups to the Baie de Somme (2009), to Burgundy (2011), to the Côte d'Azur (2013) before focusing solely on Bugatti with the organization of the 90th anniversary of the Bugatti Grand-Prix in 2014 in Le Touquet and Baie de Somme. After a break to focus on family, we hold the first rally of the 40 Rugissantes in 2023 and finally the centenary of the Grand-Prix in Burgundy in 2024 for the French Bugatti Club.
Professionally, the change in focus of our main supplier during covid leads the company Noretal to shift toward classic cars. 2024 represents a new start with activities concentrating only on Bugatti. With a stand at Rétromobile, another one in Essen, deals done for several customers as well as four curating projects in progress : two in England and two in France... It is just the beginning.
...... to be continued....
