It's the oldest Bugatti in the U.S. I think there are two in Europe which are older, but his is the only one being routinely driven. It's a 1913 Type 22 Torpedo Racer. I believe it was one of five hand-built and then saved from the Germans in WWI. If I remeber correctly 2 of them were taken to Switzerland by train, and the other 3 disassembled and all the parts buried before the Germans occupied that area of France.
Alan 's car had sat in a museum and not run for a long, long time. He got word that they might be willing to sell it to the right person , so he went there to meet with them and discuss. I think he made an offer and then waited in a hotel room for them to decide. They called him at 2:00 in the morning and told him they would accept. He said he paid more for it than he paid for his house...and he has a very nice house. The engine was frozen. He soaked it in a tub of WD40 for 60-days. Finally he was able to move the crank back and forth a tiny bit, and by the end of the day, could completely rotate it. Everything was disassembled and rebuilt from there. So many things about his car are decades ahead of it's time. many of the sealing surfaces have no gaskets...just precisely-machined aluminum surfaces, which don't leak. It's amazing. If I could have only one car in the world, that would be it.
There's several online videos of it being restored and driven, including one with Jay Leno driving it.
George
