'Bugattis encapsulate concepts of engineering which, once seen, change your ideas radically and definitively.

Drive them, and you realise that each car is form and engineering in equilibrium, and a work of art.' – William Stobbs, Les Grandes Routières.

Developed from the first Bugatti to be built at Molsheim - the Type 13 of 1910 - the Type 13 'Brescia' took that name following the factory's first four places at the 1921 Italian Grand Prix for Voiturettes, held at the eponymous racetrack in Lombardy.

Longer wheelbase Type 22 and Type 23 models were made, both of which used the single-overhead-camshaft 16-valve Brescia engine and were built alongside 8-valve 'Petit Pur Sang' versions.

Chassis number '1339' has the 1,453cc engine and is almost certainly unique among Brescia Bugattis as it has a continuous history of Swiss ownership that has been well documented over the years.

The car was supplied new to Hr Jules Friedlander in 1921 and originally was fitted with coachwork in 'torpe...