1927 Bucciali TAV3 (later TAV8) with Saoutchik Torpedo-Sport 'Cannes' body
- Engine
- Continental inline eight-cylinder, transverse-mounted with front-wheel drive
The Bucciali TAV3 is a pioneering French front-wheel-drive prototype, originally constructed in 1927 as TAV2 and progressively evolved through multiple chassis designations, bodies, and drivetrains. Shown at three Paris Salons and demonstrated to American manufacturers including at the 1929–1930 New York Auto Show, it embodies the Bucciali brothers' ambitious but ultimately unrealised ambition to commercialise their patented front-drive technology. The car now carries a Saoutchik Torpedo-Sport 'Cannes' body sourced from a Mercedes-Benz 680 S chassis, fitted during a restoration initiated by German collector Uwe Hucke in the early 1970s.
Ownership
- —Auction saleSold US$720,000
- 1927 → 1960Factory deliveryPaul-Albert Buccialipartial documentation
Retained the chassis through its entire developmental period, during which it received multiple bodies, drivetrain changes, and sequential renumbering from TAV2 through TAV8.
- 1960 → 1969Private saleSerge Pozzoli and Jacques Rousseaupartial documentation
Acquired for a nominal sum of one French Franc when the previous owner lost access to storage; the car was held without significant activity during this period.
- 1969 → 1971Private saleRay Jonespartial documentation
Michigan-based restorer who acquired the car via dealer Bart Loyens; the transaction also included decorative hood components from a separate Bucciali show car, and Jones separately sourced a Saoutchik body from a dismantled Mercedes-Benz.
- 1971 → 1985Private saleUwe Huckepartial documentation
German collector known primarily for Bugatti holdings who initiated a substantial restoration, fitting a Saoutchik coachwork body and remanufacturing several mechanical and cosmetic components.
- 1985 →Private saleCalifornia collectionpartial documentation
Acquired the nearly finished restoration project and completed the work, including integrating the decorative hood-side elements into a new hood.
- Date unknownPrivate saleCurrent collectionpartial documentation
Purchased the car some years after the California collection completed the restoration; has since stored it alongside another surviving Bucciali chassis.
Competition
No competition history extracted from the catalogue.
Maintenance & restoration
- 1927Modification
Original construction as TAV2 with a short frame, four-cylinder Cime engine, and Sensaud de Lavaud gearbox.
- 1928Modification
Reworked and renumbered as TAV3, receiving a Continental straight-eight engine and a transverse gearbox positioned ahead of the front axle; independently sprung driven front wheels with sphere-and-ball-bearing hub arrangement were a defining feature.
- 1971RestorationGerman firm (radiator shell, unnamed)
Hucke commenced a comprehensive restoration in which a Saoutchik Torpedo-Sport 'Cannes' body, originally from Mercedes-Benz 680 S chassis 35940, was fitted. Front fenders were restyled to approximate original Bucciali units, the radiator shell was remanufactured to the 1930 design by a German firm, the front axle was repositioned 17 mm rearward on the springs for body fitment, and the original front half-shafts were replaced with units from an Austin 1800.
Work was documented photographically in Christian Huet's monograph on Bucciali. The restoration was left nearly complete when Hucke sold the car in 1985.
- 1985Restoration
Completion of the restoration by the California collection, including welding the original stamped stork hood-side panels into a newly fabricated bonnet.
- —Modification
Chassis underwent continual evolution through multiple further renumberings, carrying at least six different bodies over its show career, eventually designated TAV8.
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