Petrolicious Meets the French Family That Has Restored Bugattis for Three Generations

The Bugatti car brand has a long and storied history that continues into the modern day, and dedicated to preserving that very history is the Garage Novo in Marolles en Hurepoix, France, 40 km south of Paris. The garage was founded by Henri Novo, who began teaching himself the art of repairing Bugattis in 1929, at the age of 14. Over the years as Henri honed his craft, word of his expertise spread throughout Europe, thus gaining him a sizeable clientele. However, with the onset of WWII, the value of Bugattis plummeted to close to zero, never mind the stripping down of the automobiles by the Nazis for the metals inside. The end of the war meant that the value of Bugattis slowly started to rise again, and it was then that Henri bought the current garage which he converted from a farm. Henri’s son, Jean, switched careers from the airplane industry in 1981 to take over from his father, with grandson Frederic joining in 1992. In the episode above, Petrolicious takes a revealing look at the story behind the family business, which today is run by Frederic and one employee, with Jean, who is practically retired at age 74, still coming in everyday to help. Says Frederic, “This car was designed, created by one man. We feel, we touch the mind of Ettore Bugatti. I suppose it is the reason why these cars are so vivant.”