Vintage Bugatti salvaged from Lake Maggiore sells big

This is no ordinary Bugatti – if such a car could ever be called ordinary. Dubbed 'Una Bugatti per Damiano' ( A Bugatti for Damiano), the entire project to salvage and sell the vehicle was undertaken in the name of Damiano Tamagni, a 22-year-old local boy who was viciously kicked to death at Locarno's carnival in February 2008.

The Centro subacquei salvataggio Ascona (CSSS), the diving organisation involved in the salvage operation knew Damiano well as he had been a club member.

Once the costs of the project are covered, the remainder of the proceeds will benefit La Fondazione Tamagni ( The Tamagni Foundation), set up by Damiano's parents after his death to promote a message of non-violence to Ticino's youth.

Just how the Bugatti found itself in the lake is open to some speculation – it's generally believed to have been dumped there in 1936 to avoid unpaid and punitive import taxes (and a tenacious Swiss official).

At more than 50 metres down in the murky waters of Maggiore, getting the vehicle out was never going to be easy.

''We knew something was there,'' said Federica Mauri Luzzi, spokeswoman for the working group, ''but at the beginning we really had no idea what it was and we certainly didn't know for sure it was the Bugatti.''

The difficult salvage operation was undertaken by CCCS and local expert Jens Boerlin who came up with the original idea of raising the Bugatti. It took nine months to complete – three times longer than originally predicted and was finally raised to the delight of a cheering crowd in July 2009.

The Bugatti went under the hammer at Bonham's in Paris on January 24; frenzied bidding was witnessed by Damiano's parents, members of Ascona's diving club and Boerlin's salvage company.

''We're thrilled to have been part of this,'' said Mauri Luzzi. ''The joy we felt in Paris [at the auction] was huge . . . indescribable,'' she continued. ''And the good that's come out of this, to be able to leave a message – a positive message of non-violence for young people – is wonderful,'' she added.

The excitement generated by the sale is shared by Maurizio Tamagni, Damiano's father and founder of the Tamagni Foundation, an organisation which promotes a simple but effective message against aggression:''With the Head, Not With the Hands.''

Since its inception in 2008, the foundation has been involved in numerous projects throughout the canton, some in collaboration with other organisations active in the same field. ''We're working full out,'' said Tamagni. ''From awareness campaigns in the schools to street posters through to an anti-violence CD.''

The CD, a single called 'Carnevaa' (carnival in Ticinese dialect) was funded by the Tamagni foundation and recorded by a local punk band, Piace?, with a second version laid down by a guggen music band Anfrigola & Gatt Band.

''The message is simple,'' said Stefano Golini, Piace?'s bass player. ''We're saying go out and enjoy the carnival – but do it without aggression.''

The CD is being sold throughout Ticino's many carnivals, now in full swing, with all proceeds going to the Tamagni Foundation.

Piace? were also responsible for the organisation of a benefit music festival, Rock n' Respect in 2009. The event was held in Damiano Tamagni's home town of Gordola, just outside of Locarno, and looks set to be an annual date on the Ticino music calendar: the second festival takes place on March 27.

''As a band we'd always talked about doing something for a good cause but no-one ever approached us. In the end we decided to organise something ourselves'' said  Golini.

''We wanted to do something local, something for Ticino, and when Damiano was killed and the Tamagni Foundation was set up we'd found our cause,'' he continued. ''Punk has this reputation for aggression. We wanted to show the kids that they could enjoy this music peacefully.''

The sale of the sunken Bugatti coincides with the second anniversary of Damiano's death which will be marked by a torchlight procession in Locarno on Sunday, January 31. Maurizio Tamagni is keen to stress that the event is not solely to remember his son, but is ''a moment to remember all the other victims of violence.''