Lance Cole - Bugatti Blue: Prescott and the Spirit of Bugatti

BUGATTI BLUE

PRESCOTT AND THE SPIRIT OF BUGATTI

Dedicated to Rembrandt Bugatti and his works

Also by the author (nonfiction)

The Classic Car Adventure

VC10 Icon of the Skies

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Spitfire MkV and Variants

Allard The Complete Story

Saab Cars The Complete Story

Saab 99 & 900 The Complete Story

Citroen The Complete Story

Vickers VC10

Heavies

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The New Illustrated Encyclopaedia of the Automobile

PRESCOTT AND THE SPIRIT OF BUGATTI

PHOTOGRAPHED & WRITTEN BY LANCE COLE

Additional photography by Tim Read

First published in Great Britain in 2018 by

Pen and Sword Transport

An imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

Yorkshire - Philadelphia

Copyright Lance Cole, 2018

ISBN 978 1 526 73475 4

eISBN 978 1 526 73476 1

Mobi ISBN 978 1 526 73477 8

The right of Lance Cole to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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This book could not have been realised without the help of the Bugatti Owners Club (BOC), The Bugatti Trust, and the men and women of Prescott owners, drivers, enthusiasts, et al. Edmund Burgess helped me present the idea to the BOC and I am grateful to him. Paul Gibbons, archivist at the BOC, has been key to the telling of facts, and my sincere thanks go to him for all his help and kindness. Thanks to BOCs Charles Trevelyan, and to Chris Rogers, BOC General Manager, and past incumbent Stuart Webster and General Secretary Maggie Webster respectively, who have been of great encouragement, as have been Martin Greenslade and Aline Gallan. John Staveley of Bugantics fame is always straight to the point with his enthusiasm and informed opinion, and it is fun to recall Sue Staveley, yet sad to mark her untimely passing, for Sue revelled in Bugatti, the VS-CC vintage cars, marshalling and Prescott and its people; she always solved problems and was always positive. Barrie Price, Stephen Gentry, Mike Preston, Mike Marshall, Julian Eckersley, Roland Duce, Tim Dutton, Mike Bullet, Janet Missen, Ian Patton, Adam Ward all deserve a mention for the donation of time, information and kindness during the preparation of this book. Angela Hucke at The Bugatti Trust has been of great assistance and encouragement as has the Trust itself. Oh, and where would we be without Marshals? Thanks also to the Vintage Sports-Car Club (VS-CC) for accreditation and access over the years. Also, to my mates at the Allard Owners Club Mike and Diana Knapman, Dave Loveys and all. Thanks to my old friend Tim Read of Perspective Broadcast, with whom I have been photographing and filming for years: some of Tims photos are found herein alongside my own efforts. All the photographs in this book were taken using Nikon DSLR cameras and Nikon lenses.

Finally, to my wife Anna for all her love and support.

Although it is sometimes said that Prescott is about cars principally Bugattis, the reality is that Prescott is about people, as well as their cars. Prescott is home to classic Bugatti metal, but also to Edwardian and 1920s-30s mechanical magic of vintage sporting character and their clan of owners. There is a definite aura at Prescott, a real atmosphere, one that is tangible and, on occasions, of real emotion. Here, on a delightful hillside that has seen mechanical motoring action for many decades, can be found something special; a camaraderie that knows no social limits nor status restrictions. In this book, I have attempted to capture that atmosphere - one that has entranced me, and others, for so long.

With whirring crankshafts, popping valves, howling superchargers, wailing induction, and the magic of magnetos, here we find a vintage home for the classic car obsession. As blue hues flash by, as fuel and oil vapours mix, as beer and brandy swill, as men and women laugh and share a unique experience, Prescott really does live. I suppose we must not get too esoteric, but Prescott, its Bugatti story, and the chapters of veteran and vintage classic motoring that accompany it, must rank as something special indeed set against a modern world of marketing, celeb culture and egotism: Prescott is none of these, for Prescott and its Bugattis are the real thing. Bugatti, its blue, and that badge that captures it all and which some call the Ovale Rouge, really does come to life on this English hillside. Molsheims masterpieces seem to love it at Prescott.

A different angle on Bugatti starts here.

Perceived wisdom has it that the Bugatti enthusiasm is an elitist Franco- Italian orientated passion populated by rich people. This may occasionally be true and buying or owning a Bugatti, old or new, does not come cheap. And people, rich or not, tend to spend their money on their Bugattis. However, there is more to Bugatti and to being a Bugatti owner than meets the eye of the conditioned expectation. Not everyone who runs a Bugatti is super-rich; the passion runs deep across all ranks of society. People of many differing personalities and interests share the passion of and for Bugatti, at Prescott.

At Prescott you can be rich or poor, or somewhere in between and you might never know that the person you are talking to is worth millions, because they do not need to tell you; they are there for the cars and the experience, not the ego trip.

The British, in particular, have had an affair with Bugatti since the marques early days and enjoy a remarkably close association with all things Bugatti. That hillside near the small village of Gotherington in south-west England hosts both the Bugatti Owners Club, and The Bugatti Trust. Both bodies reside at a famous place Prescott Hill or more accurately, Prescott Hill Climb. Since 1938, this magical venue has hosted the Bugatti Owners Club itself first conceived of in 1929. Bugatti owners, enthusiasts and addicts have travelled from all over the world to this shrine for decades. It is a special place with what todays young would call a unique vibe. Maybe it is the leylines that run through the place, or the ancient standing stones named Odo and Dodo that once stood in the grounds of Prescott House, but Prescott has a real feel, a tangible effect upon the person. Odo and Dodo, by the way, were the men who founded nearby Tewkesbury Abbey (we presume they gave their names to the two standing stones), so maybe it is apt that people come to Prescott to worship old cars.