One Lap of the Web: Bugatti state of mind

-- Last week, we looked at the new Bugatti exhibit at the Mullin Museum, which taught us more about Bugatti in an afternoon than the last three years of idly flipping through Pebble Beach programs. Having thus immersed ourselves in the House That Ettore Built, we'd really like to drive to work in a faithful Type 35 replica by the aptly named Pur Sang, which Mark Dixon of Octane drove for his 140-mile commute. "You need to keep the revs up while the engine clears its throat and warms its plugs," he writes. Wonderful. Being stuck in traffic in a car with a supercharged straight-eight and hollow-forged live axles is like having your office at the bottom of a ski mountain: your day can either start off incredibly awesome or as an utter disaster.

-- In fact, if you do need to convince your spouse, neighbors, or therapist that you're shelling out over $200,000 for a Bugatti replica, sit them down and force them to watch this documentary on Grand Prix cars from 1924 to 1939. It opens with a Type 35 being started -- be sure to take careful notes -- and screaming down a runway, the sort of engine scream that is in fact "incredibly awesome." Then it's nearly an hour of great vintage footage: "In those days," the narrator wryly notes, "they drank the champagne."

-- Good news for classic-car owners in England, which has implemented a rolling road tax exemption for cars older than 40 years: if your Ford Escort MkII or Reliant Scimitar GTE was built before Jan. 1, 1974, you'll be granted "tax-free" status. The cutoff date used to be fixed at 1973, but starting in 2015, it will roll with the times. Vehicle Excise Duty expects that this will benefit 10,000 classic-car owners, some of whom even own Scimitars. If only we Californians could implement this with the rolling smog exemption that seems as likely as the flat tax. Alas.

-- Mercedes-Benz developed a simulator so advanced, it nearly made an Esquire editor throw up over his John Lobbs. The steering assist, collision assist, blind spot assist, highbeam assist, and attention assist could lead one to think that the occupant up front isn't so much a driver as he is a mere Car Assist.

By Blake Z. Rong