Vehicle Assemblages 16th Scale
Bugatti: 1927 36A DJ Via Tera Prototype 1/6th scale Replica
Fuel: Alcohol 25% /Kerosene 25%/ Gasoline – Leaded 50%
Power:397 HP V cam Octaflow ® V8 w/Paulson S- Ignition & BLC 32mm Carburetors
Drive Train: Hydronic/Hydraulic pump front wheel drive/rear assist
Steering: Hydronic/ Hydraulic pressure flow front wheel: STE -(steam heat entropy)
Specs: 0-96.561 Km/h: 8.5
Top Speed as originally tested: (1928) 188.29 Km/h
Tires: Aero Cloud: F&R 50 X 30 X 27
Strange indeed is the story of the 1927 36A DJ Via Tera Prototype Bugatti which was originally custom built by Bugatti in 1927 for Sir David Jacobs of Lockenshire Great Britain. There were no other DJ Via Terra’s made by Bugatti(?). In 1931 Jacobs supposedly had the car shipped to the United States where he adventurously followed the same route as the first successful transcontinental crossing of the United States set In 1903 by H. Nelson Jackson and Sewall Crocker.
Jacobs then apparently spent two years touring Canada finally having the car shipped back to his home in Lockenshire where it remained in the care of Jacobs and his son Joseph, who took turns driving the car through the English countryside faithfully every weekend until 1966. Because Jacobs refused to let the car be photographed only three pictures of the car have been found so far. The third photo indicates that the car was possibly used in the 1957 Canada Road Rally.
After Sir David’s death in 1967 the car Remained in the Jacobs family until 1988 when it was purchased by the Rockefeller Estate in America. According to the curator of the Rockefeller Estate no photos of the car where allowed, and it was decided to leave the car in its original condition and not to have any restoration preformed. The car was hidden from view and largely forgotten until 2004 when it was donated by Rockefeller Estate to the Hanscom Automobile Museum in Gatherwell Virginia where it sits under lock and key. No photos. No visits. No press.
It is rumored that Jacobs had the car shipped back to Canada for the Canadian Rally in 1957. However, no record of it having been entered in the rally exits. Yet shipping logs do indicate that a 1927 Bugatti was documented as entering Canada in April 1957. Stranger still, this photo was found under a pile of post cards at a garage sale in Nyack NY in 2004. No one knows for sure how the photo ended up Nyack NY and all leads hit a dead end. Roger Harrington director of the EAHS (European Automobile Historical Society) believes Jacobs never had the decals removed after the Canadian Rally and that his son must have brought the photo to the states during a visit sometime in the late 1970’s then lost it.
When Sir David passed the car was reportedly photographed and repainted by his son Joseph sometime in the early 1970’s. This photo session by his son which blatantly disregarded the wishes of his father, that the car never be photographed, is said to be the reason that the car is now considered to be haunted by Sir David, which has been Taken to hart by both the Rockefeller Estate and the Hanscom Automobile Museum. No pictures. No Viewing. No press.
The Hanscom automobile museum reported that In 2008 the car had minor mechanical repairs preformed: new cam bushings, carburetor seats and STE valves. After careful consideration It was also decide at the time to restore the badly faded paint to its original color in order to preserve the aesthetic integrity of the car. It should also be noted that originally Bugatti had installed fenders on the car which Jacobs had Bugatti remove stating that the fenders made the car look too “Plush”. Because no photographs exist of the car with fenders at this time no attempt has been made to reattribute them to the car.
When Contacted, The Volts Wagon group which now owns Bugatti, refused to comment on the Bugatti: 36A DJ Via Tera Prototype. Basically, they would neither confirm nor deny its existence.