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An ultra-rare Bugatti buried beneath the surface of an Italian lake has been sold at auction for £227,500.
The lightweight 1925 Bugatti Type 22 Roadster - known as the Brescia, after the Italian track at which the model took the top four places at a race in the 1920s - lay submerged beneath the surface of Lake Maggiore in Italy for the last 73 years.
It was originally powered by a 30bhp 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine and was capable of speeds of up to 100mph. The car was first registered in 1925 in Paris, before being unofficially imported to Switzerland by a young architect.
When the Swiss government levied an import duty, the bill amounted to more than the value of the then 11-year-old car. In the case of non-payment of these duties, the car had to be destroyed and the cheapest solution was to push the car into a nearby lake.
The Bugatti was regarded as little more than local folklore until 1967, when a diver located it 53 metres below the surface and partly buried in the mud. The site of the wreckage became a popular target for members of the local sub aqua club.
In 2009 a salvage team was dispatched to recover the Bugatti. When it was lifted they found extensive deterioration, but that one side was in much better condition thanks to the mud's embalming effect.
The Bugatti has now been sold for £227,500 - three times higher than the most generous estimate. The winning bidder plans to display the car in its current condition.
