A racer competing in the Prescott Speed Hill Climb in Winchombe, Gloucestershire, crashed his $380,000-plus vintage Bugatti when the brakes failed, causing the car to slam into the side of a wall.
As captured in a dramatic video footage, the driver, Edmund Burgess from Lavenham, Suffolk appears to be crushed inside of his 1924 Bugatti T13 as it flips over while maneuvering around a hairpin bend. Burgess' head barely misses the divider wall as his car careens out of control. Incredibly, Burgess not only emerged from the wreckage alive, but unharmed and after receiving the go-ahead from paramedics, he departs the scene to get a beer at a local bar.
Burgess said he hopes to be driving the vintage Bugatti again in about eight weeks once the repairs are complete.
The Bugatti Type 13 is one of the carmaker's most hallowed models. The T13 was the first actual automobile the company ever assembled and production lasted from 1910 through the 1920s. It's unclear exactly what kind of T13 Burgess was driving in the Prescott Speed Hill Climb, but most models ran on an 8-valve engine, although some variants utilized a 16-valve head. It's possible that Burgess' particular T13 was a Brescia, which was the first full-production automobile with a multi-valve engine.
In contrast, Bugatti's current top-of-line model, the Veyron, has slightly more impressive specs. It features an 8-liter quad-turbocharged W16 cylinder engine with 64 valves. The supercar generates 1,001 horsepower, 922 lb.-ft of torque and has a top speed of 253 mph. The Veyron has a base price tag of $1.7 million dollars and goes all the way up to $2.7 million for the Super Sport model, which produces 1,200 horsepower and has a top speed for 267 mph. In addition, the Bugatti Veyron uses special tires manufactured by Michelin specifically for the Veyron and these cost $25,000. The tires can only be mounted in France and this service costs an additional $70,000.
