Weekly Motor Fix: Bob Turnbull’s beautiful million-dollar Bugatti

28 July, 2015

 

Any car that flashes the famous bright-red Bugatti badge can usually command a certain level of respect, admiration, and price tag. The late Bob Turnbull’s 1934 Bugatti Gangloff Roadster takes this idea and runs with it to very lofty heights.

Based on the same Type 57 platform as another Bugatti recently imported to the country by Hamilton collector Tom Andrews, which we featured earlier in 2015, Bob’s Gangloff-bodied roadster is a true one of a kind vehicle. Purchased in 1958 for the grand sum of £475.12s.6d, the Bugatti is now insured for a jaw-dropping $1 million.

After his death in 2012, Bob entrusted the Bugatti — as well as his other two classic vehicles; a 1907 Sizaire et Naudin, and a 1904 Humber Humberette — to his close friend Pete Brabant. Instructed by Bob to finish restoring the roadster, Pete did just that, and the car was completed by February 2015. The car now finds itself up for sale, with its proceeds to go to Bob’s own charitable trust, of which Pete is a trustee.

Bob was known for keeping to himself and dodging the limelight — a feat most difficult for someone who owned such an amazing vehicle. But those times spent alone helped massage and nurture Bob’s incredible knowledge of engineering and attention to detail — and that knowledge is clearly visible as you look over his immaculate roadster.

It’s not surprising that Bob wasn’t big on technology, which makes it all the more ironic that his Bugatti is being featured online on The Motorhood. We hope that whoever does purchase the big Bugatti can appreciate it as much as Bob did.

Lunch with … Rodger Anderson

At first, I wondered if I’d driven up the wrong driveway. The car in the garage was an early Mustang resplendent in royal blue with two broad gold stripes, which was not what I was expecting. I knew that Rodger Anderson, who made his name in Minis and a BMW 2002, was a Porsche man these days — the other end of the spectrum from American muscle. I had no idea of his affection for Detroit iron. It didn’t take long to discover just how passionate this former Saloon Car Champion is about cars, as long as they’re interesting.

Back from the brink – 1968 MGB GT

Auckland classic car enthusiast Kerry Bowman soon realised he had a massive job on his hands in restoring his classic 1968 MGB GT. When Kerry and his MGB first appeared in New Zealand Classic Car in March 2021, in “Behind The Garage Door”, the stripped-out shell had revealed some nasty surprises. Once the true extent of the hidden damage was discovered, the work would normally have been handed over to a professional fabricator. However, with the assistance of experts such as MG specialist restorer, Paul Walbran, Kerry has completed an impressive restoration and saved this car from the scrapheap.