Braco Aurelia 'barn find'

[Kevin MacBride]

I read recently in Classic and Sportscar that the ex Braco Migle Mille/Le Mans/Carrera car had been discovered in Missouri and was now undergoing restoration. Nice to see an important car like that being 'discovered' after all these years.....however the cynic in me tells me this is too good to be true. Anyone else out there read the article, or has any views on the subject.

[DavidLaver]

Oh I do hope they are in the right...

David

[GG]

This is not a wild claim. There is some pretty good evidence that this may in fact be the car. A friend has seen the car - and says there is no evidence of number tampering, and that the engine and body numbers are correct. 

Some more photos can be seen here:

http://web.me.com/geoffreyg/Cars/Blog/Entries/2011/8/3_Braccos_B20.html

[Sliding Pillar]

The engine and chassis numbers are indeed correct, although the Classic & Sportscar article incorrectly states the Chassis number as B20*1009, which is in fact the engine number. The chassis number is  B20*1010. The rear bodywork as been altered at some stage as it is not the same as when it was on the Carrera Panamericana

[Sliding Pillar]

More photos

[johnturner]

It seems unlikely that the body would be altered; is it possible that the fourth photograph is of one of the 1952 Cars?  In photographs it looks like all the 1951 cars carried advertising for Sinclair Oil over the rear window.
I wonder what I could raise if I were to sell two Lambdas, a house in Hackney, a wife, three daughters, a dog.........

[Kevin MacBride]

It was the rear bodywork and chassis number that had me concerned, but nonetheless it seems to be the real deal. I wonder how long the owner knew of its history, and were they waiting for the right time to reveal it to the world.

[johnturner]

I see that the 1952 cars didn't have any boot lid at all, so there goes that theory.  Could the fourth picture be the other 1951 (Bonetto) car?

[Kevin MacBride]

Bit of a polish and it'll be fine...!
Just how significant is the car, after all in practically every article ever written about the B20, there is referance to this car. Is it the 'Holy Grail' of Aurelias ?

[Sliding Pillar]

What more could any collector wish for, a car that was second on the Mille Miglia, a class winner and 12 overall at Le Mans and also competed in the Carrera Panamericana??
................ not to mention the fact that it was also a "Barn find" !!!!

[williamcorke]

What more could any collector wish for...

Floors? 

[HF_Dave]

Fantastic "barn find" Do you reckon they did not know what they had ?

[DavidLaver]

I've worked out what to do with it.  Strip the driveline and setup as a static display as the club did 10 or so years back.  Preserve the shell as close as possible to "as found" with a slave set of running gear to make it mobile.

...or just leave "as is".   I never thought I'd be one to say "leave alone" rather than wanting to see it driven in anger but I think this one has earned a quiet retirement.  I'd actually prefer to see replicas out on events, but those ones being absolutely thrashed.

David

[Kevin MacBride]

I kinda agree with David here. Any restoration would almost take away the history. To see it all shiny at Pebble Beach would just not be 'right'. In a way, like any works of ancient art, this car is worthless and priceless at the same time. Like a long lost artifact, let its past deeds speak for itself.

[GG]

Great post - what is the average of "worthless and priceless"?