1924 Bugatti Type 35 Built On A 1964 Volkswagen Beetle Chassis Kit Car

1924 Bugatti Type 35 Additional Info:

As far as I know this Bugatti kit car has never been offered for sale until now. I recently inherited this car. This is the story I've always heard regarding this car. Back in the early 1990's this car was built by my father-in-law and one of his friends. They were both retired and looking for a project or hobby. More than likely an excuse to hang out in the garage and drink beer. I don't ever actually remember them actually driving the car after it was supposedly finished. As far as I know this car has sat in a garage in the suburbs of Detroit since the mid 1990's. I asked about the car on several occasions over the years and all I was ever told by my father-in-law is the car never ran right and they couldn't get it to idle.When I finally had the car trailered home earlier this summer the first thing I noticed is it had a quarter tank of gas that smell horrific. I removed the gas tank and cleaned it. I blew out the fuel line, and replaced the fuel filter, and once the gas tank was re-installed I installed a different battery. The car would crank over but not start. I simply adjusted the points gap and it started right up. It wouldn't idle or stay running. I noticed there was no power running to the choke or idle solenoid. After I ran power to both and watched a YouTube video on how to adjust the settings on the carburetor, and did so, it actually started and ran and idled decent.With all that being said I have to say this car is being sold as a project car. The wiring is very amateur and just doesn't look safe. The car probably needs to be re-wired. The brake lights, tail lights, turn signals, and hazards all don't work. On the dash it has a speedometer, oil pressure gauge, tach, amp gauge, and cigarette lighter. The oil pressure gauge, tach and cigarette lighter all work. I'm sure when this car was built they had no idea how handy the cigarette lighter would be for charging your smart phone. The amp gauge and speedometer does not work. There doesn't appear to be a cable ran from the transmission to the speedometer. There are also two push buttons on the dash. One for a siren and one for a oooga horn. The siren works, but the oooga horn does not work.When I first got the car running and was driving it around the neighborhood the brake pedal would go all the way to the floor, but the car would stop, but now the last time I drove it the car has lost it's brakes. The car definitely needs the brakes gone through. The last time I drove the car it somehow managed to snap the strap holding the generator in place which caused fan shroud to tear loose. I'm sure the fan shroud needs to be replaced, and the cause of why this happened needs to be determined. The generator strap could of been the original one from the 1964 Volkswagen Beetle, and maybe it snapped just because it was wore out? If you look at the three pictures of the engine compartment there's a picture before the generator strap snapped and tore the fan shroud loose. The second picture is of the broken generator strap and torn fan shroud. The third picture is where I've purchased a new generator strap and replaced the broken one. I also have a spare generator strap I bought that will come with the car.The throttle cable is also very sketchy. It's just a thin cable ran from the accelerator pedal under the seat back to the carburetor. I'd come up with something better than that if I was keeping the car.There also seems to be an issue with the car shifting into reverse. Sometimes it goes right in and other times it's just impossible to get to go into reverse. I've noticed the trans mount appears to be either loose or broke. This could be the problem with reverse being hard to find, or it could be something as simple as a linkage adjustment.The body is all fiberglass. There's two pieces of the fiberglass body that come off. The rear cover over the engine area, and the front cover over the fuel tank. Both are held in place by Dzus fasteners. The rear engine cover has one bad Dzus fastener that needs to be replaced.The paint is decent. It has the nicks and scratches you'd expect a car to have that sat in a garage for over 25 years. It has a huge scratch on the cover that goes over the engine compartment.The tires were purchased new for the car when it was built and literally have no miles on them. They sat for over 25 years, but appear to be fine. They all hold air fine, and don't appear to be dry rotted or any other damage.I can't express enough how this car is being sold as a project car that really needs to gone through and re-built by someone with automotive knowledge and mechanical abilities. The car is being sold "AS IS" with no returns or refunds. Please request all the pictures you feel you need and ask all the question that you feel need to be asked before purchasing.To list a car eBay requires you to list the mileage. I have no idea the mileage the 1964 Beetle donor car had on it, and I know this kit car has very few miles on it. I just listed 10 miles because eBay requires a number in that area. The mileage on both the 1964 Beetle and the kit car is unknown.The car is titled as a 1964 Volkswagen Beetle. I have a clear title in my name. It is an open cock pit car, and I have no type of cover. If you buy this car and plan on having it delivered to your destination I'd recommend at least an enclosed trailer.I have no idea if this is true, but I was told by my father-in-law the company selling these Bugatti kit cars was sued by Bugatti and shut down. According to my father-in-law very few of the reproduction aftermarket Bugatti bodies were sold before the company was shut down. Again, I don't know if that's true? Just to make it perfectly clear this is a 1924 Bugatti kit car built on a chassis of a 1964 Volkswagen Beetle with a 1200cc 1964 Volkswagen Beetle engine. If you had an extra 2 to 3 million dollars laying around you could buy a real 1924 Bugatti Type 35 if you don't like this one. LOL The last time I had this car listed I received a message from an interested buyer stating the car needed a ton a new parts and a ton of money put into it. I don't necessarily agree with that. I think the wiring needs to be gone through. If this is something that you can do yourself it's going to take time and some new wire and connectors. The car obviously needs the fan shroud replaced. They made millions of old Beetles. Those things are a cheap. It needs a possible new trans mount, but the existing one could possibly just be loose. It needs the brakes gone through. Again something most backyards mechanics can handle. It needs one new Dzus Fastener. I would come up with something better than the existing throttle cable. Needs a speedometer cable, and that's about it? The car is still titled as 1964 Volkswagen Beetle. In the State of Michigan if you buy a car, and take the body off of it, and replace it with a new body like a kit car the State of Michigan really doesn't care. As far as they are concerned you still have a 1964 Volkswagen Beetle. I have full insurance coverage on the car through Hagerty and they approved $10,000.00 as the replacement value. The car has a current license plate on it and is street legal if everything worked like the brake lights, turn signals, etc. You're more than welcome to come over and look at the Bugatti if you live local. Feel free to come look at it even if you don't live local.