When is a fake not a fake?
When it is an expensive ?authentic ?tool room copy?? apparently.
There are a lot of expensive Bugattis, Maseratis and Jaguars created in the 1980?s on the market.
Seemingly accepted by the FIA and VSCC as being eligible for competition.
We had a 1929 Bugatti Type 35 entered on our historic vehicle club run this year. It said Bugatti on the badges and the tax disc BUT a local expert was able to tell us, too late to refuse it, that it was built recently by an Argentine company ?Pursang?.
I was able to lovingly recreate £50 notes I?d end up in Strangeways.
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BUT a local expert was able to tell us too late to refuse it that it was built recently by an Argentine company ?Pursang?.
How did the expert tell GWS? By the small-block Chevy V8 under the bonnet? :o)
I believe the Type 35 had a complex roller-bearing crankshaft, not the sort of thing you would bother with when making a modern replica. EB didn't stint when it came to design. But I don't suppose a historic vehicle club can ask entrants to dismantle their engines for an authenticity check.
I will google Pursang and see what I get.
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For more info on the Pur Sang Type 35:
www.pursang.co.nz/bugatti.htm
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When it's a genuine fake..:-)
Yes, I have seen that description used somewhere.....
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I seem to recall that authentic means that you have some part of the chassis with the number stamped or engraved on it or just the chasis plate/number if that is how it was marked. Same for engines - the block with a valid and genuine number on it, then rebuild from there. There was some court case a few years ago about 2 rebuilt Jaguars, one of which was genuine and one was not, according to the judge, even though they both had some original parts from the same wreck/donor car. The man who owned the one with the original bulkhead with a chassis number on it was the winner SFAIK.
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Yes, they are fabulously good replicas looking exactly like the real thing. And the engine looks right too from the outside. But despite references to traditional methods and craftsmanship, along with other references to modern hi-tech, there is no information on whether the thing is a replica all through, needle-roller big-ends included, or, er, not. I am almost tempted to email them and ask.
Bet they cost a few bob.
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As you will see from the website , I am not talking about vague look alikes.
The engine, to me, looked very similar to a genuine Type 30 Bugatti parked nearby.
I know about the Teal, the Dri-Sleeve etc.. but they do not call themselves Bugatti.
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I believe the Type 35 had a complex roller-bearing crankshaft not the sort of thing you would bother with when making a modern replica. EB didn't stint when it came to design. But I don't suppose a historic vehicle club can ask entrants to dismantle their engines for an authenticity check.
It's not a fake until someone tries to pass it off as the real thing. Up until that point it's a reproduction or a replica. The question is does the existence of a carefully crafted and in every way authentic reproduction diminish the essential Bugattiness of the real thing? They are both manufactured objects after all and if they are identical in every way, why would you care? Is the age of the thing all that matters? This is probably the best known essay on this subject and while it doesn't answer your practical questions, it does raise a whole lot more ;-)
www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/work...m
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Well done Baskerville. Walter Benjamin in the back room... I've a damn good mind to post my essay on the automobile which quotes all kinds of people.
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Not bad eh? Is it a first?
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Interesting essay.
It was indeed being passed off as a 1929 Bugatti. As a 1980s replica it is not eligible for our club event.
Another point was it did not have any wings or lights fitted so not even road legal. Hope the owner had some valid insurance.
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I believe that the two competing D-Type Jaguars have now been combined into one car, which ends the dispute.
I'm not so concerned about scratch-built replicas, as the ones which use parts from 'donor' cars. The donor cars are regarded as being less worthy than the replica, so they are destroyed for the sake of the replica. As time passes, however, the cars used as donors may become rare and valuable themselves, partially as a result of their ranks being thinned by the replica builders. At one time it was quite common to destroy an E-Type to construct a D-Type replica. Would this be regarded as ethical now? Many Mk7/8/9 saloons were destroyed to create 'sports cars', but the original car would probably be worth many times what the creation is now.
In short, scratch-built replicas are good, as long as they are clearly marked. The constructors shouldn't sacrifice a good genuine car to make the replica.
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Thanks PeteM. My memory was not clear, beyond recalling that Jaguars were involved and there was a court case!
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