When a Ferrari’s in a Fender-Bender

At the time, Mr. Glover and Mr. Kennedy were working at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Mich., building prototypes.

Mr. Glover, 90, remembers a young Mr. Kleeves walking into their shop, fascinated by their work. They agreed to teach him.

It became apparent that he was talented, said Mr. Glover, who now lives in Macomb Township, Mich. “I showed him all I could. He was like a sponge.”

Now, Mr. Kleeves’s reputation is such that the businessman Peter Mullin selected him for an ambitious and unusual project that would be housed in Mr. Mullin’s automotive museum in Oxnard, Calif.

Among Mr. Mullin’s collection of pre-World War II French automobiles was the chassis of a 1939 Bugatti Type 64 Coupe, built by Jean Bugatti. It had all the necessary mechanical pieces, such as an engine and suspension, but it was half naked: No body sat atop. Bugatti was killed in a crash in 1939 before he could create it.

Only three Type 64s were ever made, and only two are known to exist.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/17/business/auto-metal-crafters-bugatti.html?emc=rss&partner=rss