Finding the Booch
In the annals of automotive history, certain marques shine not because of commercial success, but because of their bold innovation, striking design, and sheer audacity. One such forgotten gem is the Bucciali—a rare French automobile produced from 1922 to 1933. With only around 150 cars built during its brief existence, Bucciali remains a fascinating footnote in automotive lore, notable especially for its pioneering work in front-wheel drive technology.
Bucciali was founded by two brothers—Angelo and Paul-Albert Bucciali, both aviators turned automotive visionaries. Their company, Bucciali Frères, began like many others of the era, building conventional rear-wheel-drive vehicles. However, the brothers had far more ambitious plans: they wanted to revolutionize the car.
At a time when most manufacturers were still refining internal combustion engines and suspension systems, the Buccialis were already looking ahead. In 1928, they unveiled the Bucciali TAV-6 at the Paris Auto Salon—a car that would stake its place in history as possibly the first front-wheel-drive passenger vehicle.
But, I knew nothing of that.
Around 1985 I was making semi-regular trips to junkyards. As a visual artist, I’d fallen in love with the effects of time and damage to painted metal, and classic cars in junkyards were terrific subjects for my camera. I’d heard of a large yard in central Minnesota, my home state, and called a friend to see if he and his wife would like to take a road trip with my girlfriend and myself.
Not only did he jump at the chance but offered his 1967 VW Westfalia camper van as transportation.
The junkyard was a treasure house of classic cars, and my friend and I looked like walking camera stores as we explored and photographed the yard, with gadget bags, extra lenses, and cameras hanging from our necks and shoulders. Sometimes, the cars were so tightly parked that we couldn’t get into the mix.
Somewhere in that mix was an unusual and very interesting old vehicle. Its huge headlamps, with their original finish long gone, framed a metal grill that looked to be in great shape. I can’t remember if I even noted the name, Bucciali, on the grill, but I was artistically happy I’d come across the piece.
Fast forward to 2024. I was looking through hundreds of photos, scanned from 35mm slides, when I saw the Bucciali shot. It wasn’t until I researched it that I realized the uniqueness of the brand, one of three in the US.
Further research produced a name, Bruce Kelly (1940-2018), who ran Lake Country Classic Auto, a restoration business in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Of note in his obituary was that he had restored a 1932 Bucciali TAV-8.
I wonder if the finder of the “Booch” knew what he was looking at when he saw this:
