Mat Armstrong: The TRUTH On The Bugatti Controversy & Restoring WRECKED Supercars
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Brand
Bugatti
Bugatti is a luxury supercar brand. The host is talking about whether they’d sue someone who films or rebuilds damaged Bugatti cars.
Concept
protect their brand
This is about keeping the brand’s reputation clean. With very expensive cars, the company tries to make sure people don’t treat them in ways that could make the brand look bad.
Car
Porsche Carrera GT
The Porsche Carrera GT is a very rare, very powerful sports car. The podcast mentions it in connection with a crash and fire, which shows how dangerous things can be when something goes wrong. It’s the kind of car that gets discussed because it’s both special and high-stakes.
Part
suspension
Suspension is the system that helps the car ride smoothly and grip the road. If suspension parts fail, the car can handle unpredictably and become dangerous.
Concept
stripping cars apart
Stripping a car apart means taking it down to see what’s really broken. When you do that, you usually find more damage than you could see from the outside.
Concept
stripping the car apart
Taking the car apart helps reveal what’s really wrong. Once you find one issue, it often leads to finding more.
Term
air filter
An air filter is a consumable that cleans incoming air for the engine. When it’s replaced, it’s usually a routine maintenance item—not something that should cost tens of thousands by itself, which is why the speaker uses it as an example.
Brand
Lamborghini
Lamborghini is another famous supercar brand. In this conversation, it’s mentioned to compare how willing different brands are to let people film or show the factory.
Concept
Top Gear
Top Gear is a famous car TV show. The speaker is saying they used to watch it and dream about cars they thought they’d never be able to afford.
Concept
million pound
“Million pound” refers to the British pricing scale for ultra-luxury and hypercar ownership. The speaker uses it to emphasize how far beyond typical incomes these cars are, shaping the “unobtainable” mindset.
Concept
repossessed
Repossessed means the bank or finance company took the car back because payments weren’t being made. It doesn’t automatically mean it was crashed—sometimes it just needs repairs or has been neglected.
Term
gearbox issue
A “gearbox issue” means something is wrong with the car’s transmission. Fixing it can be costly, and sometimes the problem can return if the underlying cause wasn’t fully addressed.
Company
Halfords
Halfords is a store in the UK where you can buy car parts and tools. In this case, it’s where the speaker got a simple electrical part (a fuse) to help fix the problem.
Part
30 amp fuse
A fuse is like a safety plug for the car’s wiring. If too much electricity flows, it breaks to prevent damage, and replacing it can sometimes get things working again.
Term
PPF
PPF is a clear protective layer you put on a car’s paint. It helps stop rock chips and minor scratches from damaging the finish. If a car is “PPFed,” its paint is protected.
Term
wrap
A wrap is a vinyl skin put over the outside of the car. People use it to change the color or style without repainting. In this case, it’s put on top of protective film.
Concept
impulse buy
An impulse buy is when you decide to buy something quickly, without a lot of planning. With rare cars, it can happen because the chance might not come again.
Concept
$215,000
The quoted price gives context for the economics of buying a rare, crashed exotic. For listeners, it frames how these cars can trade hands based on condition—especially when the buyer is taking on repair risk.
Concept
second hand parts
Used parts are parts taken from other cars. With some rare supercars, there aren’t many used parts available yet, so repairs get expensive.
Concept
heavy
Heavier cars can feel harder to steer and may need more effort to slow down. The speaker is saying the car’s weight hurt how it drives.
Term
air con
“Air con” is the car’s air conditioning. If it’s controlled through the screen, it can be annoying because you have to tap the screen instead of turning a knob.
Concept
sold it for basically what I bought it for
They’re saying they sold the car for about the same price they paid. That means they didn’t lose much money on the deal.
Term
Bluetooth doesn't work
They’re saying the car’s Bluetooth feature stopped working after the car was fixed. That matters because people use it for phone calls and music, so it feels like the repair wasn’t finished.
Brand
Aston Martin
Aston Martin is a famous British car brand that makes high-end sports cars. Here, the speaker is saying they brought the cars to Aston Martin professionals to help understand what was going on.
Brand
Renault
Renault is a car company from France. The speaker is saying some parts on these cars actually come from Renault, and people didn’t realize it until they looked closely.
Brand
Jaguar
Jaguar is a British luxury automaker. The speaker is contrasting dealer assumptions with the reality that some parts or subsystems can be shared with Jaguar components, which matters for diagnosis and sourcing during restoration.
Term
tabloid
A tabloid is a type of newspaper or website that tends to publish dramatic stories. If it’s reporting on a crash, you should assume it might be exaggerated or incomplete until proven otherwise.
Concept
traffic jam
A traffic jam is when cars are stuck in slow-moving traffic. In a crash story, it usually explains why someone might try to pass or change lanes.
Term
publicist
A publicist is someone who handles a celebrity’s public image and messaging. If there’s a controversy, they may tell the person not to comment so things don’t get worse.
LIVE
One, take one, Mark.
Will Bugatti sue you for your show on rebuild?
It's become like a final messy Ronaldo situation.
No, they don't want you exposing them and taking them on head to head.
Only reason I'm able to buy these cars is because they're crashing.
To try and attempt to rebuild it in 24 hours.
Do you ever get any manufacturers call you for advice?
Yeah, everything that we've had with them has been a nightmare.
If Ferrari are not doing it, Lamborghini are not doing it.
If Ferrari would do it, Lamborghini are going to do it, or vice versa.
It's obscene.
Now you're inside these working on them, what are Bugatti's really like?
The eye-opening thing is...
Will Bugatti sue you for your show on rebuild?
Hopefully not.
It's coming. It's coming.
It's coming.
Let's hope not.
How can they sue him, though?
It's coming.
What's he doing wrong?
I think at any opportunity, they might.
I mean, you've had a letter or two, obviously.
No, no, no. No letters.
Just like online stuff, that's pretty much it.
What do you mean by online stuff?
Do you know, like, me and Mattie Rimmackers have spoken online.
This is the crazy thing that I think is...
What's happened?
I think it's become, like, a Lionel Messi-Renaldo situation,
where, do you know, like, those two are probably mates,
and they've probably got on, like, well.
And it's the same with, like, me and Mattie, like, we're both like cars,
we're both into cars, we're both like supercars, hypercars, whatever.
And we've spoken before, and we've got, like, all mutual friends
and everything like that, and...
But it's when the corporate world gets, like, mixed into it.
And then, obviously, then I started rebuilding this Bugatti,
and the story's kind of unfolded that way.
But then now my videos are going out,
and then, like, Mattie made this kind of, like, response video,
and then the internet took that, and this meme's come out, that meme's come out,
this clip's come out, so it looks way worse than what it is.
You know, like, I'll see a clip of saying, like,
Bugatti said that they can't split this car in half, and then, like,
it'll clip me, like, splitting it in half, and then it'll be like a...
It'll be like, oh, Bugatti got owned, you know?
Just people just stay in the box.
Yeah, it's making it worse, it's like, that's not come out of my mouth.
Like, I have said, yes, Mattie told us that we weren't able to do it in a garage
and this, that, and the other, and we were able to do it.
Like, I feel like he should know that's, like, the content game, in a way.
Like, it is, I think...
But they do have to protect their brand, don't they?
I mean, it's a proper brand.
Well, yeah, we talked about this recently when we had Mark McCann on the show.
Yeah, yeah.
And Rob basically asked the question,
do I agree with how Mattie or Bugatti as a brand are, like,
sort of going against what you're doing?
And I completely agree with it, because as a Bugatti is far superior
than any other brand of car, and you'll know,
once you get this on the road and it's running, you'll realise that.
Yeah.
So they have to be the most expensive car,
they have to go to the most wealthy customers.
They can't be seen for you.
They don't want you fucking around with it.
They don't want you exposing them and taking them on head to head.
But it is rubbish.
You know, like, okay, the car and the engineering that's gone into it
is literally beyond me, like, so a lot of the stuff that's been made is insane.
Like, do you know, okay, at the end of the day is nuts and bolts all put together,
but there's a way it's put together, that's special,
and the way it's made is special.
It is nuts and bolts at the end, and it is a Volkswagen parts box, a lot of it.
But the protection stuff is crazy, I think, like,
the way I'm trying to picture it from their end is, okay,
let's say I buy a GT3 RS or a Bi-Lamborghini or something like that,
and they're excused from me not building the car.
For me, they can sell me the parts, no problem.
They'll sell me the parts, I'll build the car, and then I lose my warranty on that car.
That's fine. I'm taking that risk myself.
But with Bugatti, they're saying that, okay, it's to protect the brand,
or, and they don't think it's safe for me to rebuild it.
That's the words that they said.
They can't sell me parts because they don't think it's safe for me to rebuild.
Why does that matter to them?
I'm taking the liability of rebuilding that car,
and the warranty's gone on that car.
That should be it.
Surely they just sell me the parts, and then there's no liability.
I'd even sign something to say,
Bugatti takes no liability for this repair,
because it's obvious I'm doing it.
I'm even filming doing it.
Why won't they sell me parts for that car?
Say, for example, you are going down a dual carriageway.
And the way you've repaired the car
isn't up to what they call Bugatti standards,
and your brakes fail,
and you run into a people carrier with a family in it.
And then the headline is,
Bugatti Crash injures, or worse, family or four.
That's not good for their brand.
But that can happen to a...
No, 100% of course it can, but they've got to think about that.
I don't know whether...
I've heard loads of whispering and talking and everything about
the Paul Walker situation with the Porsche,
and I know they had that Carrera GT,
and it crashed itself on fire,
and then I think was it their family that tried to sue Porsche?
Did they actually get money out of Porsche for the car being unworthy for the road?
Loaded stuff come out about suspension and bolt snapping,
and then there was recalls afterwards.
And Porsche owned the majority stake in Bugatti from right.
It's all the same thing.
I don't know whether it is,
this is all opinion and talk and hearsay,
I don't know whether there's some kind of link between that,
because originally...
I don't want to drop Matty in it,
but originally Matty sent me a message saying,
if I buy that car, he'll sort me out the parts for it,
and we'll work out from there.
So I had his word originally from the start.
Alex had the same thing.
Okay, he'll get his parts for it.
I think what's genuinely happened is,
we've got the car,
and he's then gone to Bugatti and gone,
the lads have bought the car,
I need to get this part, this part, this part.
Someone there, which is Porsche side or Bugatti side,
have said absolutely no chance.
Matty has had to go back on his word and say,
okay, we can't give you the parts,
and then had to stand by it because there's somebody else talking,
not necessarily above him,
because I do think Matty owns the majority stake.
I'm not too sure, but I do think that there's somebody else
behind his words that he's saying
because it's so strange how the tone has changed,
like, immediately after we've got the car.
It seems such a weird situation.
And then, I understand there was a sketchy thing then
where Matty had offered Alex to rebuild the car.
I think it was, was it $400,000?
$600,000.
They said, okay, we can't give you the parts,
but we'll take that car, we'll take it to Croatia
or France, wherever they're going to do it.
And for $600,000, we'll rebuild the entire car,
Bugatti stamped, everything done,
you can have the car back for $600,000.
Sounds cheap.
That's ridiculous to cheat.
Sounds cheap.
Insanely cheap.
I mean, there's three services.
Yeah, that is insanely cheap.
It's too good to be true.
It's too good to be true.
We know that price would have gone up,
because you find damage as you start stripping cars apart.
It's the same thing.
And if they're stripping the car apart, they're going to find
one thing, it's going to add up to another thing.
But the best thing about that is they have the car
in their control then.
Once it's gone to France, that car could be there
for five, 10, 15 years.
But the car's in their control and they can say
whatever they like there and Alex cannot have anything.
So I think it's very clever in a way that is not gone for it.
And he's not too worried about the money aspect.
He's bought it purely because he knows the stir it's caused
online and he knows that that gets a lot of people watching
his stuff, a lot of people like coming over it.
That's why he's bought it.
And it's the same reason if I bought it,
I couldn't have gone and took that off of it,
because the whole reason I could afford to buy that car
is because I filmed videos on it.
There's no fun video of me buying a car and then just sending
it to Bugatti to do the work.
So with that said and he's doing the £600,000 dollar offer,
Alex has then gone online and gone,
Bugatti offered me to repair the car for $600,000.
And I think that's what's really annoyed Matti
because he's got all these people in the workshop
having like a 20 grand service and someone's getting
the full car offered to be rebuilt for $600,000.
And that's caused a stir at Bugatti.
So that's really messed the relationship up between Alex
and Matti.
As far as me and Matti you can say, we might be alright.
I don't know, I don't know.
The saving grace with Matti though is he's a young guy.
He's our age, he's less than 40, he's a young guy.
So I think they've brought him in.
I think he is a phenomenon of what he can do
with batteries and the remat car and stuff like that.
And obviously that's the way the world's going with cars
and battery powered hybrid.
That's why they need to push him to the forefront.
And also it's bringing Bugatti to younger people
because he is a younger person.
So personally, I don't know him,
but personally I think he probably wouldn't be against
helping you, but it's obviously higher than what he is.
Yeah, I think that's the thing.
The whole protecting the brand thing is just bizarre for me.
But if they wanted to protect the brand,
buy the car from the auction.
If you don't want that car getting out,
that car has a salvage rebuildable title.
So that car can be put back on the road.
Bugatti even inspected it and then told the insurance,
yeah, this car is feasible to put back on the road.
So they full well know somebody is going to buy that at auction.
We've heard of Conan's eggs get flood damage
and we know before he even gets to auction,
it's gone back to Conan's egg and they use it as media cars
and things like that now because they don't want it out
in the public.
Someone like me messing around with it with spanners
and stuff like, oh, this is this and this is made out of this.
And we can find this for this price.
If it was that much of an issue,
why have they not bought it themselves?
They can obviously afford it with 20 grand services.
I mean, people are going to come to you with their Veyrons.
I've had a lot of messages.
And say, this is wrong with my car.
Can you fix it?
So you're taking business from their service centers
and from their repair centers.
Yeah, there's that.
I would never take it.
I wouldn't work on the only other car
that we've obviously worked on.
But it's only myself is Alex's car.
I don't really work on customers cars,
but I think the eye-opening thing is when we show
what's the cars made out of and how it's built
and then some customers taking their cars to Bugatti
and they're saying, right, we're charging you $20,000 for a service.
Nothing is $20,000.
Yes.
Nothing is $20,000.
Well, how much does the service?
On paper, their service is £20,000 on paper
before your car goes into them.
And then, oh, well, it needs this now and it needs that.
It needs a new air filter.
And all of a sudden, it's 60.
And people think it's made out of gold
and it is platinum this and platinum that.
And then what we're showing is what it actually is like.
When we do the service on this, we will show everyone.
It's nowhere near.
Where did it even get £20,000?
So when I see these hotels and it's like, it's £20,000 a night.
In what world is anywhere £20,000 a night?
I don't know.
There's no way see if you're in a bed.
It's 20,000.
OK, you get the experience.
But I've stayed in so many hotels which have been really expensive.
Like 20 grand is a joke.
Like, where did they get that from?
If you need any wing mirror switches,
I have four of them in my room.
It's funny you say that.
I have a fully wing mirror switch on this.
Well, I can tell you where to get the part.
It's from a Passat.
And, you know, I have them in my desk.
So Bugatti now is very good.
I'll send you them down.
I get this feeling, though, that it'd be good for you
if Bugatti sued you.
I think you'd probably quite like it.
Yeah, I think that...
Yeah, you've got...
Either way, it's a win-win.
He's shaking his head.
You can't lose, can you?
You can't lose.
No.
That's the thing.
I know that as well.
The thing with Matt...
You think Bugatti know that?
Of course they do.
They're just like, you know, like...
They didn't even answer it.
Yeah, but it's...
You're gone.
I think with Matt, he made that video.
Everyone's seen it is, like,
responding to me rebuilding the car.
And that was the worst thing.
That's a lottery ticket.
You could have done it.
Yeah, like, you know, for us, yeah, we're winning.
We're like, this is amazing.
Oh, we're watching it like, oh, no, oh, no.
Because it's not necessarily me,
but I know Alex, who's absolutely wild.
He's going like, okay, so he said,
can't go 200 mile an hour.
We're going 200 mile an hour.
Can't be splitting off.
We're going to split in half.
He's like, let's do everything he said we can't do
because that is just...
Fumped everything up by 10.
The fact that someone says, you can't do it.
Even when you're a kid, you can't do this.
You can't do that.
You want to do it even more.
Like, you want to do it even more
because someone says you can't do it.
Were you in Miami when that video...
No, it was here.
Okay, because I guarantee you all would have been
in the workshop that night.
That night is 2 a.m.
Get your ass in the workshop.
We're splitting this car tonight.
Alex rang me.
Alex rang me and said,
have you seen this video that Mattis brought?
And I was like, I can't believe it.
Like, I don't know whether it's some kind of media training
or something that would happen,
but for me, I think the best response could have been,
we can't stand behind this build.
We think it's unsafe.
That's why we can't sell the parts.
Look forward to seeing what the guys come up with at the end.
Good luck to them.
Can't do anything there.
That wouldn't have been good for you.
It would have been terrible for us.
Place it down, doesn't it?
But I feel like it felt pressured to respond to it
because Matt is quite active on socials and stuff,
which is where he's helped him get to where he's at, I think,
is the exposure he gives all the brands.
It's amazing what he's been doing.
It's good.
And it brings up for the next generation to be able to see.
He's showing videos of inside the factory.
Lamborghini don't go around and do that.
We can barely put a camera outside a dealership.
Never mind the factory.
And he's showing everything, which I think is mint,
but that response didn't need to happen.
Again, has someone told him to do that?
But I know a lot of the guys who watch my videos
have been absolutely plastering his comments saying,
Matt's going to rebuild his Bugatti,
selling parts, selling parts, selling parts.
Has it got to the point where it's kind of been peer pressured
to make a response?
Don't know.
Now you're inside these working on them.
What are Bugatti's really like?
They're well made.
It is a Volkswagen Audi.
So it's a well made Volkswagen.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's good.
I mean, that's not going to be good for their brand, is it?
No, but like, do you know to design it is,
I don't understand the designing part of it.
I don't know how can somebody,
I love to know where they start.
And I think this should really escalate into a video
between me and Mattie at some point.
We need to get on camera so he can show me.
We can like, like head to head.
So he goes around and I'm saying like,
right, this is just stuff of Volkswagen.
Yeah, but to develop this part, we had to do this, this, this,
this, this and this.
Where do they start?
Do they start with the engine and then they work out,
right, what body can we build around the engine?
Or is one geese are going there like,
right, this is the shape of the car.
We need to make it go 260 mile an hour.
Now you need to build the engine to fit in that car.
I'd love to know which way round it is,
but they're the guys that sat in uni and college
and drawing and doing physics and everything.
And I'm just a guy with a spanner.
So it, there is a difference.
And I appreciate the two different things,
but to be honest, it works exactly like a Volkswagen.
The same way the Lamborghini does.
Like it's, once you've worked on one car,
you can figure it out.
There's nothing too special.
The thing that aggravates me is all this new stuff
with the electric battery and the,
the deal is sort of gate keeping stuff that you can't do
anything on the car unless you've got the right tool
to plug in, which this car is not necessarily
like that because it's an older car.
It's brilliant to be fair how they've done everything.
But yeah, it's working on it.
So it's not really a level above anything
else you work on.
Is it or is it not really?
No, like there's a little more stuff on it.
There's more stuff, but there's not really,
like I say, like the engine is,
that's what you're paying for.
But it's not, you know, like you sit in the interior
and everything feels nice.
And, and it's a lot better quality than like
Ferraris or something that I've sat in.
But I don't think I don't, I can't sit in it,
especially Alex is and go, this is six million quid.
This is five million quid.
I can't, I can't even understand how a car
can be that much.
I don't, I can't, I think, I don't know whether it's
because we started off with like father in Japan cars,
600 pound cars, and then you sit in them and it doesn't
feel much different to the last one.
The drive and experience, yes, but that much more,
I can't, I can't get my head around it.
I don't, I don't think it can be that much more.
There's no way, well, I think, isn't there a story
that it costs five million to making them
sell them for a million or something?
Yeah, and you know, I said this to you a minute ago
before we turned the cameras on.
The minute this car's off and running and you drive it,
your opinion will completely change.
Yeah, he said that because I've never driven one.
Your opinion will completely change.
You will be like, I can see why this car costs this much.
Really?
Yeah, yeah.
I'm excited for that moment.
I've had those, I never used to like Porsches.
I never used to like them at all.
So I just don't get them all at the same.
And then I bought a Cayman S and I got in the Cayman S
and I was like, oh my God, if this, this is like
an entry level Porsche, this is unreal.
It's like flying down all the B roads and everything.
And then I got the GT3 and the GT3 RS and
next level, like I can't, I can't believe how well that drives,
but it drives like a German would drive.
Like it follows the rules.
It's strict.
It does everything it says on the tin.
Like it's proper, but if that's what you want, that's great.
Like I get in that and if I want to go around the track
and I don't feel like I'm going to crash and I want to feel like
I'm the best driver on the track or driver GT3 RS,
but I think they all have different personalities and stuff.
But it's the same thing with the Porsches.
I was like, how can it be that much?
It just looks exactly the same, but I think they've got some
at right and then stuck with it and continued and continued on with it.
So I get it to an extent, but the fact that GT3 RS could be
like 200 grand and then you go in.
Oh yeah, this is what 1.2, 1.3, 1.5 million.
Where's that number come from?
I don't know where it has come from, but I don't know.
Maybe my mind will change.
You will find out.
You will find out.
I still think they're incredibly...
I mean, look, the new cars, like the Chiron Super Sports
and the Pure Sports and stuff,
they have a very high cost price of 3, 4, 5 million pounds.
And the Tourbillon is 5 million starting price.
So, I mean, it's an obscene amount of money for a new car.
Like classic cars that are old and, you know,
they've got history and the racing pedigree and stuff,
like that's what you have to pay.
But for a production car, it's obscene.
Yeah, like it just got to the point.
When you look at a Veyron for 1.5 million,
I see every single penny.
Really?
Yeah, I really do.
Well, I'll take your word for that when I drive it.
You'll call me, you'll be like, you're right.
I'm so excited to drive it.
And it was never a car I ever thought I'd own it.
It was one of them things I used to watch Top Gear
where, like, years and years ago,
and all the expensive cars, I kind of just used to
almost, like, switch off a bit because I think,
oh, I'll never, I'll never get that.
Like, a million pound.
Like, I can't even think, how do we even earn that money?
It was the same way when I used to drive down, like, these roads
that I used to drive for Indian takeaway
and I used to deliver in the food.
And I'm like, how is someone, this house is 3 million pounds.
How is someone buying a 3 million pound house?
I was like, you can get lent four times more than your wage.
So even a doctor who says on a hundred grand a year,
how are they buying a 3 million pound house?
Just thought it was just something so unobtainable
that it's never going to happen.
But here we are, and it has happened.
I don't know how, but it has happened.
But I just think it's one of them that I never thought I'd ever own.
So I'm so excited to actually experience it.
Like, because I know there's, well, it's 450, isn't there?
And then how many people are actually going to get the experience
to be able to drive it as their own is crazy when you actually think about it.
But I'm excited, I'm excited.
But it makes it more special to me that I'm going to fix it.
Because then I know it inside out.
It will become your own in a way.
I know it's yours, but it will become, it will feel more like your own.
Then going to buy a car that's just new, that somebody else built.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's it.
I couldn't buy, I would never go to your dealership
and buy a car if you are.
That's the reason he's fucking here.
You think he does it for the podcast?
I can't buy anything from here, but I will sell you something.
They're too good.
But you'd never buy a car that's not been crashed?
Never.
I can't think of any reason.
Do you know, because the only reason I'm able to buy these cars
is because they're crashed.
The whole reason I've got to this point.
It feels like a cheat to be able to save up the money
and buy an immaculate Bugatti off the showroom from Carl.
I just feel like that's a cheat.
I feel like I've cheated it.
I don't know.
Also, when I get the cars, they're the worst they could be.
Then I'll make them better.
I'll buy a car from Carl and it'll be the best it could be
and it'll get worse.
I don't want to buy a car thinking I can't drive it.
And you make it your own spec.
You change the colour, you change the interior,
you put some wheels on it, you exhaust.
I couldn't do that because it's already had the worst happen to it.
I'm not going to harm the value from putting wheels on it
because it's already had the worst happen to it.
This one, it's not been in a crash but it's got a bizarre history.
What is it? What's the history?
This was repossessed.
We were actually bidding against each other.
We weren't bidding against each other
but I believe that we were the only two bidders for this car.
I've known the car for quite a few years
and a finance company called me, they repossessed the car
and there's not the world wrong with it.
There's a gearbox problem.
Yes, and I think it's fixable.
I was happy to buy it because it wasn't accident damaged,
it wasn't categorised, it needed some work doing to it.
So it was a repossession and not great, Nick.
Am I right to say that?
Yeah, I think as far as it goes,
I've not seen any of the Veyron in person.
I'm sure the next Veyron I've seen is probably Mark's
which probably make me feel a lot better about this one.
I think as far as it goes, when I took this apart
compared to Alex's Chiron, this is at an odd life.
It's been uphill, paper round, one of them was.
Everything's a bit rusty, a bit battered underneath.
I can tell stuff's been off before
and stuff's kind of been bodged in a way.
And what did you pay for this one?
So the finance company told me not to...
The repossession company told me not to say the exact amount of pay,
but it was more expensive than Mark's,
but not over a million.
OK, so when we're...
Why did...
When we're sort of...
I didn't know that Matt was bidding on the car
and I'm not sure if he knew that I was,
but we were sort of singing off two different hymn sheets
because the way that I would buy the car is I would buy the car
and take it... I'd have to take it to Bugatti
or take it to like Simon Furlonga
and, you know, pay the premium for a name
to get the car back in full working order.
So what did you bid on it?
750,000.
That's what I bid on.
I'm not looking at him, but I like his laugh.
I never signed a contract with anyone.
Did you sign the contract with the lease?
No, no, I could.
So you could say how much you brought it for?
Yeah, I could.
Well, yeah, it's pretty...
Like Mark says 900, this is...
Right.
Less than a million.
Fuck me, it's not...
You just have to give my calculator.
But not to say...
Coles 750 is...
Now I know what sort of money he wants to give.
I'm thinking that I would allow...
I mean, I'm not going to be...
You can never...
You've got to expect the worst and hope for the best.
Exactly.
So I think expect the worst.
I spent 250 grand on this car.
And you want to flip it?
Yeah.
He wants to get rid of it.
And I say to somebody, like, OK,
forget the pass that it's had.
It's been to Bugatti.
I've spent 250,000 on it.
It's now as good as a new car.
And that's how I'm going to sell it.
And what do you think you would have sold it for?
I would have put that car for 1.2 maybe.
OK.
So you might have been in for 950.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And what do you think you'll need to spend
to get this on the road?
At the minute, we've now solved the gearbox issue.
Right.
At this point.
Yeah.
It could come back.
But I don't think I'm spending more than 100
to get it done.
If that.
If that.
Like, it really depends on the paint underneath.
It really does depend on the paint underneath.
But a lot of stuff on this is all off different cars.
And, like, we can make stuff.
Like, the fact it's a complete car,
we've got an amazing starting point.
That 100,000 is even, now I'm thinking about it,
it's crazy because I don't even think we'll even get
to that figure.
Like, it's going to be way cheaper.
It cost me at the minute a 30 amp fuse from Halfords
to fix a gearbox issue.
And then now I'm hoping there's a misfire on it.
And I'm hoping it's a similar type of thing.
A lot of it's going to be, it needs a service.
We know it needs a service.
But we can do the service.
The service isn't 20,000 pounds.
I've not got to go to Bugatti.
But I can solve that myself in my own way.
I will probably touch up a few things
or maybe get the interior done.
The paint is a massive thing underneath.
I don't know what it's going to be like.
But I can see it's PPFed.
The wrap is over the PPF.
I saved the paint.
I'm hoping.
But I know it's been a million and one colours.
The thing is as well, for Carl,
when he's buying the car, he's looking at today's prices.
He's thinking, OK, I'm spending 750 on it.
And then I'm going to spend 200 grand at Bugatti.
Over 12 months.
Whether the money's tied up for 12 months.
For me, I'm not thinking I'm going to flip this car.
I'm going to make some videos on it.
And I'm going to keep it.
I don't plan on selling it.
But if I do sell it, by the time I do sell it,
I hope that these are worth a lot more than 1.2.
And they will be.
Yeah.
If anything's going to bring the very down,
it'll probably be me.
No, you say that.
Let me tell you what I've noticed.
So everyone knows what auto trader is, right?
I advertise heavily on auto trader.
Everyone who's got a car for sale in the UK
goes to auto trader.
And you'll see a car that is for sale.
There's always a categorised car on there.
There are always the cheaper ones.
Cat D, Cat N, Cat S, whatever it may be.
And you'll see one Cat N,
repaired by Matt Armstrong.
Right?
And it's no fucking cheaper than a car
that's not been repaired by Matt Armstrong.
It's just a normal price car.
So you actually have increased the premium
of category cars.
The key is so they are still for sale.
Is that for auto still for sale?
Well, is the what, sorry?
The Roberto?
No, I think he sold it.
Yeah, because I noticed on that it was like,
he was asking, I think,
$400,000 or $425,000.
I sold that so cheap just to get rid of it.
Why do you want to get rid of it?
I hated that thing.
I don't know what your take on the Revolta's are,
but it was just, it ain't Lamborghini.
You had a headache with it though anyway, didn't you?
I just, I can't...
Why do you hate it?
It wasn't a Lamborghini.
It wasn't, there's no,
I got it and it was sort of a,
it was a real impulse.
It was John, like John Simister,
he rang me.
It was like 12 o'clock at night.
I've just crashed my Revolta.
I'm on the motorway.
I'll bring it to you.
I do want to buy it.
Yeah, bring it down.
I'm not going to get this opportunity again
to buy a crash Revolta.
I brought it down, made an offer on it,
bought it.
I think I bought it for $215,000.
Was it $215,000?
Wow.
What was that about, $500 grand car?
Yeah, it had been the $550.
Yeah, $550 he got it for
and it was plus fat and...
Was it a mess?
Like it was a crash?
Yeah, it was bad, it was bad
but it got to the point where we rebuilt it
and I think at one point
was a couple hundred grand into it
and then...
As in the rebuild was...
Yeah, yeah, it was 200 grand into it.
Oh, you spent a lot on that car?
Yeah, it was, because at other parts
you can't get second hand parts for it
because it's brand new.
Everything was being ordered from Lamborghini
and it wasn't registered as crash damage.
It wasn't a registered car.
It never went through insurance.
He obviously sold it straight to me
and then we just couldn't get it started
and because it was all new technology
and no one's ever rebuilt one before
we were kind of the test dummies for it all
and Lamborghini wanted to know
pretty much every step
we were taking on the car.
Even when they ordered a front subframe for it
rang up, called for a front subframe
and then they're like,
we need photos of the car.
Why are you ordering a front subframe?
Because what we've learned is that other companies
will buy parts of cars like the Revoltto
to use as development for their own cars.
So let's say BMW is buying parts from Mercedes cars
to use as development for their own cars
and we're kind of learning this trick along the way
as what's happening.
So they want to see a photo of the car.
Why do you want a front subframe?
As soon as you send a photo to Lamborghini
it's as good as, well there goes your warranty.
I can't read, this is never going to have a warranty anyway.
I know I'm going to film the video
so it's going to be out there.
But every step of the way
we're trying to get it started
and we rebuilt the entire car
and it still wouldn't start.
We're just trying to figure it out.
Why won't it start?
And inside the hybrid battery
there is a fuse which blows
and it's just for protection.
When you have a crash
the airbags blow
just to prevent a fire happening from the battery.
It cuts power going from the hybrid
to the rest of the car
because you get that thermal run away
and it sets on fire, you can't put it out.
We found the fuse, we replaced the fuse
but it still wouldn't start
and we then found out that it's a software inside the battery
which almost was crash data on the battery
and you can't reset that.
They hadn't even developed the software
at Lamborghini to be able to reset the crash data.
So even though we replaced the fuse
not even Lamborghini can plug in the car
and go reset crash data with cars good to go.
They have to replace the entire battery.
What was the battery?
35.
35.
Which for a hybrid battery on a hypercar, supercar
isn't that expensive?
No, now I'm thinking about it
but it was still 35 grand I didn't need to spend
because the battery was completely fine
but it's not just that.
It was then 35 grand
we don't know if we can sell it to the public.
It's a big battery
and anyway we managed to convince them
we got the battery, put it in the car
still doesn't work
because you need the Lamborghini tools
to be able to code the battery to the car.
We eventually coded the battery to the car
we got it started
I'm like 400 grand in repairs
in this car anyway
I think it was like 400 and some 1000 pounds
490 maybe I was in total with the car
and I drove it then I drove it
all through Europe and into Italy
and not one point I thought
yeah this is a 500 grand car
you know, it sat in it
and it was too nice
it was really heavy
it didn't want to stop very well because it was so heavy
yeah it was quick
but it was too...
the steering doesn't feel like it connected to anything
because it's so heavy
it's like electronic steering
it didn't feel how other Lamborghinis felt a bit crap
which is what you're buying it for
and it's too planted on the motorway
it's quiet
everything's all touchscreen in the middle which I hated
you're changing the air con with your fingers
I can't turn the air con up and down
and I can't turn the radio up and down in one either
yeah, exactly
everything was all touchscreen
I just didn't get on with it
I didn't particularly like the look of it that much
and I thought for the amount of hassle it's given me
I can't gel with it
and I know as soon as I park it back at home
it's just going to be parked there
and I'm not going to use it
and it's an expensive car
and I see everywhere Revolta is dropping in price
Revolta is coming down
everything's coming down
if I'm going to get rid of it
now's the time to get rid of it
so you lost a bit on that car
I lost a lot on that car
I sold it for basically what I bought it for
repaired
repaired, yeah
because I could have sold it more
I could have waited
but the thing is with what I do
and everything is that
I don't want somebody
buying a car off of that
for clicks online or something
because we have this whole thing
it's like we know if someone posts something online
then people are going to watch it
because as much as people love
the come up of what we've done
like from the very start
they love the underdog
and then until the underdog starts
being like the big guy on there
and now anyone will find any excuse
to try and bring you down
and the worst thing that could
I feel like would happen
is that someone would buy the car
and then they start tearing it apart
or something like
oh I bought my Armstrong's Revolta
look at this
look at that
like the repair was 100%
I know it was 100%
but these people when they get the cars
they can do
you can doctor anything
to make it look like
we know the car was 100%
and faultless
I wouldn't have sold it without
so I wanted to sell it to a trader
that I knew there's no combat
I know what is going to be like
is a mate
and there it's done with
I'd rather have that peace of mind
than I sell it to someone for 500 grand
and then they're thinking
oh why has it not got this
why is there a fault with this
I'm going to put this online
and expose you about this
that and the other
like I'd just rather not have that in mind
two years later you get a phone call
because someone's Bluetooth doesn't work
yeah yeah exactly
do you know what I mean
I don't know how you do it
Matt it's Jeff here
I bought that car
and you repaired it
and the Bluetooth doesn't
fuck off Jeff
yeah yeah yeah
I don't know how you do
the customer thing
I just can't
look I have to stand next to
every car that we sell
and I do
but obviously our situations
are very very very different
I didn't build the car
yeah so when something goes wrong
yes someone will tell me
and I'm more than happy to help them out
and I supply a car with a warranty
and everything
if it's out of warranty
but that's one reason
why I will not touch
a crash damage car
because you never
number one you get labeled
as selling a car that's had
accident damage
so everyone thinks that
every car that you have got
and sold has accident damage
so I can't go near that
exactly
then number two
if you did
and you're responsible
for the fixing of the car
you're never ever
ever gonna get left alone
it has such a bad name
it has like
and it's the bad ones
that give it a bad name
like the crash damage cars
a lot of so many people
like oh I wouldn't buy it
it's crash it's been in a crash
and when we've took apart
these cars
and then as long as you
put them back together
correctly
there was good as not crash
like it's gonna be the same
but there are bad ones out there
and I can see why
because there's so little margin in it
like there's so
we could buy a
I'd say a BMW M3
and you find one extra fault
that you didn't know about
and then that's your profit margin
gone so you
I can see why people are gone
you know what
let's not put the airbags in
let's just put a resistor in instead
so it thinks it's got airbags
and then off it goes
and then they're making their profit
I can see why people are doing it
but then that is
they're doing it because
it's their profit
it's all to do with money
but it's insane
that they can live with that
knowing that like
I could sell a BMW M3 to a family of four
and they're driving around
with no airbags
or an airbag off Alibaba
or something like that
it's mental that
but that's what's given the bad name
so every
because one cars crash damage
not everyone's repaired badly
it's just
there are some bad ones out there
and I think
I think
my videos have opened the eyes
to that
like okay
this is how the repairs
we're doing it
and we're figuring it out ourselves
but then there's a balance between
figuring out yourself
bodging it
and then the main dealer doing it
another thing as well
they think main dealers are
godsend of rebuilding these cars as well
when they're doing
exactly the same thing
they're only humans
they've only got a spanner the same as you are
do you know what I mean
it's not going back into this mythical room
where it just assembles itself
it's not a fucking transformer
because no one can see it
they don't know
we think it's a magic trick
but we've had
all the main dealer techs
are watching our videos
and we speak to them
and they love the videos
we took the cars to Aston Martin
and the cars are
oh your videos are brilliant
we never knew that
this was off a Renault
and this was off a Jaguar
or anything like that
because all they do is
if something's broken
they look on the parts
and order it
and it's done
so they love it
the same way
so they
we're all human
everyone's gone to work on a car
because one technician's got a
document which says he's been to university
it doesn't make him any better
at working on a car
than somebody has worked on
his entire life
it makes no difference at all
and made mistakes
and done it wrong
and learnt that's not the way you do it
so the next time you do it
you do it right
so it's experience isn't it
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Do you ever get any manufacturers
or like dealerships from manufacturers
call you for advice?
Yeah, we do
I don't think I can say
You like that question, do you?
I've driven all the way from where to be here today
I don't think I can say
You've got a name drop as part of the show
He's not in his head
There's been a few
but yeah, I definitely can't say
because I like the brand
We know what that is
Lamborghini
It's that old Porsche
I don't necessarily like that brand
that's the funny thing is
Lamborghini
I don't know
now I'm going to cause loads of headaches with Lamborghini
Lamborghini, everything that we've had with them
has been a nightmare
but I love the car
I love the car, but Lamborghini stuff has been a nightmare
Do you mean with the SVJ or just any Lambo?
Any Lambo has been all protected and undercovers
and I feel like it's Lamborghini
If Ferrari are not doing it
Lamborghini are not doing it
If Ferrari would do it
Lamborghini are going to do it
or vice versa
We're working with an influencer
or a content creator
or something like that
or Lamborghini don't do it
So Ferrari are not going to do it
Lamborghini have opened the factory
for influencers to go around and film with
Ferrari is doing it now
and it's...
We've got...
So say
someone hard but Lamborghini says that
they're not going to work on our car
if we film certain things on it or whatever
and if we put the video...
if we do that they're not going to work on the Revoltto
it's when we're trying to get the Revoltto started and running
and they said they're not going to work on it
I said okay, if you're not going to work on it
like you said earlier with the Bugatti
it's a win-win for us
because if you're not going to work on it
a video goes out
Lamborghini refuses to work on my Lamborghini
and we were going to go down to Italy
we're going to have the car parked outside
oh they can't work it over there
so either way it's a win-win situation for us
and that's the thing that they don't understand
so either play with us
and it can be good for both of us
or it's going to go wrong
I think it's only going to take one brand
to reach out and go you know what
I love what this guy's doing
let's be part of it
and then all of them will join forces and go together
we've had Porsche do the same thing
I was trying to buy a Mantai kit for the GT3 RS
for ages and they wouldn't sell me it
because it was going on a crash damaged car
and then we had to pressure them so much to the poor
I guarantee there's some Mantai kits on crash damaged cars
they're all crash damaged
they're all fucking crash damaged
who doesn't track a Porsche
who does not have a knock in a Porsche
it's what they're built for
but ours is visually crash damaged
didn't want to go on a crash damaged car
eventually we got somewhere with them where
we had to have it inspected
okay repair's good
Mantai kit can go on
but they didn't really want much to do with it
video goes out
phone call
Porsche
video's brilliant
how can we be a part of it
too late
like you know like it's too late
like when are the brands going to step forward
and then go
you know what
let's say with this
Bugatti call me tomorrow
dream scenario
Bugatti call me tomorrow
you're out Matt
we love what you're doing
we want you to work on the car
because we know that's your whole situation
we'll supply the parts for you
we'll give you the workshop procedure
and if you like say good words about Bugatti
or go to the factory and film around there
and like we'll help you along the way
I think it's going to look amazing for their brand
like it's going to
my audience is going to love that
like they're going to see so much more Bugatti
that they would never have seen
and then seeing the brand help out
someone they watch every single week
is going to help them
yes not every single one of my audience is going to buy a Bugatti
but word gets around and like
I probably would have watched a Bugatti video years ago
never thinking I know one
and my mind had been completely changed
from one video I've watched of a guy rebuilding it
when are the brands going to take that step
but I do think it's the
at the minute the CEOs and the top guys at the brand
the old geezers
who don't know what YouTube is
but once
but do you know why
it's plain as day for me
like I can't believe you can't see it
why is that
it's because I know you're saying
you don't want to use the I will fix your car as a business
yes
but they don't know that
yeah
so that they are protecting themselves
I think from being like
we're charging someone
100 grand to fix their car
yes
Matt knows how to do it as good as any of our technicians
and he's going to do it for 20 grand
yeah I think that is
in a way they've got a kind of
worn against the way you do it
to protect the value of what they charge
I think that's the issue we have with Porsche
it was a similar situation with
when if something gets damaged
and a car goes to Porsche
it has a Porsche approved repair
if I repair the car
and then what we wanted to do
is repair the car, take it to Porsche
and then it passes that Porsche approved repair pass
that doesn't say much about the Porsche approved repair
because if I can do it in a workshop
in Leicester
then why can't somebody else do it down the road
like so it's got
I understand yet it's got to be something that
that's got to be the only reason
they can try
that's the only reason I could think
you're so big and so influential
on many many platforms
that as a brand you'd be stupid
to not get behind you in my opinion
I think so
I just think
like we're not out there to cause harm
or chaos
I just want to
harm maybe not
chaos maybe
but I just
it started off me just want to rebuild cars
and put them back on the road
and it's still that
but they added little bits and dramas
on the side of it
they've become extra things
but little
like again when we went to the Rashford
the Marcus Rashford car
the Rolls Royce
we could not get Marcus on camera
it's not even a word from him
okay it's probably good for him
that he didn't do that
because he was
he wants to stay away from it
and like just completely
step away from this crash
but we do think
if he just come on camera
and had a bit of a laugh
and a joke about it
it would have posted him
in such a good line
when everyone knows it was his car
yeah yeah yeah
everyone knew it was his car
and then like the
because he's not spoken out
or helped anything
then or come on our videos
about it or spoke about it
people only get one perception of it
and that's whatever they've built
in their mind
of what Rashford thinks of this crash
but if you come on camera
and just had a bit of a laugh
oh yeah I left training
and I put my foot down
and I've had a nightmare
well you know the details of the crash
weren't to be proud of
no no no
and we've heard
what were the details of the crash
apparently so a tabloid said
so I wasn't there
so I don't know
but a tabloid said
that there was basically a traffic jam
going on the way of the road
that he was on
and he went on the other side of the road
to overtake the traffic jam
and just crashed it around about all
everything so
it crashed into like an older woman car
I think it was
but
I mean if you're
if you're his like publicist
yeah
you're saying do not comment on this at all
do not comment on that I'm strong shout
that's another thing like
the car's gone to the worst person
the car's gone to the worst person
you should have just burnt it on the road
we've heard stories that like
at the time it was
like international
like work for the
England lads
and like Rashford was in there
and some of the lads are saying that
that is being wound up by the players
because obviously the videos have gone out
and they know Marcus loves his cars and everything
and then they're all calling him a crap driver
because they stop so
like oh that's quality
but the fact that like he's even watched the videos is just
it makes it fun
but maybe if someone would have
careered into the side of him
and they would have been at fault
he would have come on your channel maybe
and said I'm in the car
I ship myself
someone come into the side of me doing 50 miles an hour
like
you know it really panicked me
but I hope you get it back on the road whatever
I think the beauty of YouTube is just no filter
or anything like that
you know you go on TV there's like this filter
that filter that they can
control what's being on like
I've got full control
if he comes on
and says anything on my camera
I've got full control of that
so I think that
these big names don't want that
going out there
but I understand it
I understand it in a way
but that's why
there's more viewers now on YouTube
than there is
people watching TV
I don't watch TV
no TV
I don't watch TV at all
I just watch you on YouTube
That's what she is
Fucking Labour
Keir Star with a wanker
Yeah I think that's the way it's going
because YouTube's real
and it's real time
it's not filmed last year
and then put out next year
I think that's the way it's going
you
About this episode
Mat Armstrong and Mark McCann dig into the Bugatti controversy around rebuilding a wrecked hypercar, arguing that brand protection and liability concerns don’t fully explain why parts access is blocked. They discuss how online clips and influencer responses (including Mattie Rimac) can distort the truth, escalating a dispute into a meme war. The conversation also covers the economics of supercar servicing, why crash-repair stigma persists, and real rebuild stories—from a Bugatti gearbox fix plan to a Lamborghini Revuelto hybrid-battery/software reset nightmare—plus why brands should embrace creators rather than gatekeep.
Original notes
Custom car visionary Mat Armstrong sits down to dismantle the digital drama surrounding his audacious Bugatti Chiron rebuild. They then shift gears from the rivalry with Rimac CEO Mate Rimac to the surreal reality of being blacklisted by Bugatti for wanting to fix a salvage title car with his own two hands.
Mat xposes the fascinating, often absurd world of supercar gatekeeping, where a $20,000 service consists largely of magic tricks and parts often shared with a common VW Passat. They also explore why the world’s most elite car brands are terrified of an underdog with a wrench and why a $400,000 repair bill from the factory is sometimes just a fancy way of saying "we don't want you to see what’s under the hood."
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➤ Tom Hartley Cars - http://www.tomhartleycars.com/
➤ Money.School - To Make, Manage & Multiple More Money & Scale Your Income. Join us at www.money.school.com
BEST MOMENTS
"It’s become like a Lionel Messi / Ronaldo situation... we’re both into hypercars, but it’s when the corporate world gets mixed into it that the stories start unfolding."
"I can tell you where to get the part [for a Bugatti]... it’s from a Passat. I have them in my desk; I’ll send you them down."
"The only reason I’m able to buy these cars is because they’re crashed. That’s the whole reason I’ve got to this point... I’d rather have the peace of mind that I built it than buy an immaculate one off a showroom."
Sponsors:
➤ Money.School - To Make, Manage & Multiply More Money, join us at https://money.school/goldcars
➤ Tom Hartley Cars - http://www.tomhartleycars.com/
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Cars & Money
Rob Moore & Carl Hartley
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52:58