Would You Buy the Galveston Bay Bugatti for $300k?

By James Derek Sapienza - October 17, 2018

Pretty sure that’s a basketcase, dude.

It seems like it was only yesterday, doesn’t it? In November 2009, a man filmed a two-tone silver Bugatti Veyron driving near Galveston Bay in Southeast Texas. In the ensuing 25 seconds, the Veyron veers off of the road and straight into the lake. Nearly a decade later, the video has been viewed over 8.6 million times. What’s more, the cameraman’s airheaded line “pretty sure that’s a Lambo, dude” has become the bane of Bugatti drivers everywhere.

But the story doesn’t end there. The owner, Andy House, was found guilty of insurance fraud. After insuring the car for $2.2 million and his intentional dive was caught on tape, House was sentenced to 10 months in a federal prison. If you’ve ever wondered what happened to the car, strap in. This story gets even weirder.

In a recent video on VINwiki’s YouTube page, company founder Ed Bolian explains that a few weeks ago, he started getting flooded with messages about someone trying to sell a 2006 Bugatti Veyron for $300,000. Considering that these cars still trade hands for over one million dollars, Bolian decides to investigate.

After Galveston Bay

“The prospect of a $300,000 Bugatti was obviously fascinating,” he says. So he calls the seller, and lo and behold, it’s the Galveston car. For two to three years after the crash, the Veyron sat partially disassembled at a Houston shop. Once House was released from prison, he sold the car to an exotic dealer hoping to repair and flip it, who took out a $980,000 loan to do so.

Then, the dealer went bust and the car was left in pieces and had a lien on it. It fell into the hands of the bank. Until, that is, the shop that had disassembled the car threatens to file a Mechanic’s Lien on it. The shop gets the title and sells the car to a Texas doctor who quickly gets cold feet. Finally – and you can’t make this up – the doctor contacts House to sell the car for him. And there you have it. Nearly a decade later, the Galveston Bay car is now the $300,000 Veyron.

The most ironic thing is that this wrecked Veyron could be the most famous Bugatti in the world, and Bolian knows it. He contacts House, who Bolian describes as “very forthcoming about his initial interaction with the car. But at this point, he doesn’t have a lot of details.”

“Once this thing is put back together,” Bolian says, “compared to the market for any other Veyron, it’s probably a $600-to-$650,000 car.” Considering that a new transmission could cost close to $250,000, a $300,000 Bugatti doesn’t leave much overhead for parts and labor. Granted, it’s had some things replaced and redone. But there’s a lot left to do.

A Plan B and a Dead End

Looking for a potential partner (because who wouldn’t watch a YouTube series about putting the car together?) Bolian reaches out to Tavarish, YouTube’s master of exotic basket cases. He’s interested in working on the car, so Bolian calls around to see what kind of loans he can get.

Bolian and Tavarish come up with a plan B for the bank. If the car is too far gone, they can turn it into something to hang on a billionaire’s wall, a la the Pagani in a Miami condo. They could also part out the interior and drivetrain to furniture builder. Best case scenario: If everything goes wrong, they’d probably be out around $100,000. Realistically, it could take over $550,000 to get the car roadworthy. In the end, House couldn’t budge on price, and the banks can’t lend the money Bolian needed. So as of writing, the Galveston Bay Veyron is still for sale.

So there may be no such thing as a cheap Mercedes, a cheap Ferrari, or a cheap Rolls-Royce. Unsurprisingly, after looking at the cheapest Bugatti in the world, there’s no such thing as a cheap Veyron either. Still, if you have $300,000 burning a hole in your pocket and are a complete lunatic, we think there’s a car you might be interested in.