Bugatti stands for tremendous speed, opulence, and bespoke materials. That is why these incredibly luxurious speed machines are hard to get nowadays. But what would you say if we were to tell you there was a time when they were a lot more rare than today, yet people wouldn’t treasure them accordingly?
Like any car company, Bugatti too had its ups and downs, and Petrolicious’ latest automotive storytelling is taking a couple of steps in that world. Filmed at the famous Garage Novo, the video tells the tale of a three generations family business that involves restoring some of the greatest vehicles in the world.
The early works of Ettore Bugatti are not just created in a special way, but considering the historical circumstances, the few units remaining today are of extreme value. Henry Novo started working on the cars in 1929, and the shop has been in business (almost) continuously since then. World War II put a pause to the shop’s activity, of course.
As we said, the classic Bugatti cars still in existence are exceedingly rare considering, the Third Reich melted most of the pre-war cars to make their implements of war. Novo's son Jean now runs the business and the garage houses some very particular models.
The place is not just bringing back to life vehicles that will soon be a decade old what strikes any petrolhead’s wonder, but also the story of the people working here.
“Completely self-taught, Jean says his father Henri founded Garage Novo with an incredible instinct for mechanical devices. This is helpful because many Bugattis were essentially designed by only a few people, and for many years the only way to conduct repairs - without the original blueprints - was to re-design and rebuild parts from scratch,” Petrolicious details.
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