Mat Armstrong: The Truth On The Bugatti Fallout & Restoring WRECKED Supercar
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53:04
Concept
24 hours
They’re saying they try to rebuild a car in one day. Real repairs on expensive cars usually take much longer because you need the right parts and time to do everything correctly.
Brand
Bugatti
Bugatti is a super-expensive car brand that makes high-end hypercars. Here, they’re talking about what Bugatti says is possible with a damaged or controversial car situation, and how people react to it.
Concept
warranty
A warranty is the manufacturer’s promise to cover certain repairs for a set period or mileage. Here, the speaker explains that buying parts and rebuilding a car themselves could void the warranty, shifting the risk and cost to the owner.
Car
Porsche Career Gt
The Porsche Carrera GT is a very rare, very fast supercar. Because it’s built for high performance, it can be harder to drive than normal cars. The podcast mentions it because there was a serious crash and fire associated with it.
Term
suspension
Suspension is the system that connects the wheels to the car and helps keep the tires planted. If something breaks in the suspension, the car can handle dangerously.
Concept
B roads
“B roads” are smaller country roads with lots of curves. They’re a good place to feel how well a car handles in real driving.
Concept
starting price
Starting price is the base MSRP-like figure before options, taxes, and dealer-related costs. For ultra-exotic cars, the “starting” number can still be enormous, and the final out-the-door cost can climb quickly with personalization.
Concept
Top Gear
Top Gear is a famous car TV show. A lot of people first learn about expensive cars by watching it.
Concept
million pound
“Million pound” just means a huge amount of money. The point is that stuff like this feels impossible to most people.
Concept
repossessed
Repossessed means the finance company took the car back because the payments stopped. If you buy one like that, you should expect it might need repairs and you’ll want to check it carefully.
Company
Halfords
Halfords is a store in the UK that sells car parts and accessories. If the repair only needed a fuse from there, it suggests the fix might be simpler than a major mechanical overhaul.
Part
30 amp fuse
A fuse is a safety device that protects the car’s wiring. If a 30-amp fuse blows, it usually means something is drawing too much power, so you may need to fix the real problem too—not just swap the fuse.
Term
misfire
A misfire is when the engine doesn’t burn fuel correctly in one or more cylinders. It can cause rough running, hesitation, and warning lights, and the cause might be something as simple as an ignition part—or something deeper.
Term
PPF
PPF is a clear protective film you put on a car’s paint. It helps stop small scratches and stone chips, so the paint underneath can stay in better shape.
Concept
wrap
A wrap is like a big vinyl skin put over the car’s body. If you remove it later, you can see how well the original paint held up.
Concept
flip
To “flip” a car means buy it, fix it up, and then sell it quickly to make money. The speaker is saying they don’t plan to do that.
Concept
Auto Trader
Auto Trader is a website in the UK where people list cars for sale. The speaker is saying it’s one of the main places people go to find cars.
Term
second hand parts
Second-hand parts are used parts from other cars. If there aren’t many used parts available for a rare supercar, the repair bill gets much bigger.
Company
Lamborghini
Lamborghini is the Italian supercar manufacturer whose parts and supply chain are referenced here. The speaker says everything was ordered from Lamborghini, which implies OEM-only sourcing—common for rare models and crash repairs.
Brand
BMW
BMW is mentioned as an example of a company that could be studying parts from other cars. It’s about how companies learn and improve their own designs.
Brand
Mercedes
Mercedes is used as the example of the car brand whose parts might be bought and studied. The discussion is about how companies can learn from each other.
Term
hybrid battery
A hybrid battery is the big high-voltage battery that helps the car run on electricity part of the time. After a crash, it can be shut down for safety so it doesn’t cause a fire.
Term
replace the entire battery
When a hybrid battery’s crash data or safety state can’t be cleared, the practical repair may be replacing the whole high-voltage battery pack. This is common on modern vehicles where the battery management system is tightly integrated with safety logic.
Term
four hundred grand in repairs
They’re saying the repair bill was around $400,000. That’s what happens when a supercar has serious damage or needs expensive electronic/battery work.
Term
too heavy
They’re saying the car is heavy, and that changes how it drives. A heavy car can feel harder to stop and can make the steering feel less sharp.
Term
air con
“Air con” just means the car’s air conditioning. Some cars control it through touchscreens, and if you don’t like that setup it can feel like a hassle.
Term
touchscreen
A touchscreen is the screen you tap to control things like music and climate. Some people don’t like it because it can be slower than real buttons.
Concept
airbags
Airbags are the safety cushions that deploy during a crash. If they’re not working correctly, you lose a big part of the car’s crash protection.
Car
BMW M3
The BMW M3 is a sporty BMW that people buy because it’s fast and fun. The host is using it as an example of how a crash-damaged car can end up back on the road with airbags not working, which is dangerous.
Company
Aston Martin
Aston Martin is a premium car brand that makes expensive sports cars. The host is saying they even took the car to Aston Martin people to look at the work.
Car
Lamborghini SVJ
The Lamborghini SVJ is a special, more hardcore version of a Lamborghini. They’re asking whether the speaker’s bad experiences were with the SVJ specifically or with any Lamborghini.
Term
doing 50 miles an hour
They mention a speed to explain how serious the impact could be. At around 50 mph, crashes tend to be much more damaging than at low speeds.
LIVE
One, take one, Mark.
Will Brigatti 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.
I would never go to your dealership and buy a car for you.
That's the reason he's fucking here, to sell you one.
They're too good.
The only reason I'm able to buy these cars is because they're crass.
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 Brigatti's really like?
The eye-opening thing is...
Will Brigatti 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.
But actually, I've not had...
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, 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 would 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, it'll be, like,
oh, Bugatti got owned, you know, like, you know?
Just people just staying in the box.
Yeah, it's making it worse, it's like, that's not come out of my mouth,
like, 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, but they do have to protect their brand, don't they?
I mean, it's a proper brand.
We talked about this recently when we had, we had Mark,
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,
yeah, you'll realise that. Yeah.
So they have to be the most expensive car,
they have to be 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, but, you know, like,
OK, the car and 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, OK, at the end of the day,
is nuts and bolts all put together.
But this is the way it's put together, that's that 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,
OK, let's say I buy a GT3 RS or by Lamborghini or something like that.
And they're excused for 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 I'm taking that risk myself.
But with Bugatti, they're saying that, OK, 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 warranties gone on that car.
That should be 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,
there's 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.
Yeah. And the way you've repaired the car.
Yeah.
Isn't up to what they call Bugatti standards.
Yeah. And your brakes fail.
Yeah. And you run into a people carrier with a family in it.
OK. And then the headline is Bugatti crash.
Ingers or worse, family or four.
Yeah. That's not good for their brand.
But that can happen to a 100 percent, of course it can.
But but they got to think about that.
Exactly. Yeah.
They could like I don't know whether I've heard like loads of like
whispering and talking and everything about
the Paul Walker situation with the Porsche.
And I know they had that career GT.
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 is like from I don't know whether it is.
It's all opinion and talk and hearsay.
I don't know whether it's some kind of link between that because.
Originally, I don't want to drop Matt in it.
But originally, Matt, he 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.
OK, we'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.
Matt, he's had to go back on his word and say, OK, 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 they do think Matt 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 there was a sketchy thing then where
Matty had offered Alex to rebuild the car.
I think it was was it four hundred thousand six hundred six hundred thousand dollars.
They said, OK, 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 six hundred thousand dollars, we'll rebuild the entire car.
Bugatti stamped everything done.
You can have the car back for six hundred thousand dollars.
And it's cheap. That's ridiculous to cheat.
Sounds sounds insanely cheap, like because it'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 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.
The cars in their control and they can say whatever they like,
then 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.
That's that's why he's bought it.
And it's the same reason if I bought it, I couldn't have gone on,
gone and took that off off because the whole reason I could afford to buy
that car is because I film videos on it.
And there's no there's no fun video of me buying a car
and then just sending it to Bugatti to do the work.
So with that, with that said, and he's doing the six hundred thousand pound
dollar offer, Alex has then gone online and gone,
Bugatti offered me to repair the car for six hundred thousand dollars.
And I think that's what's really annoyed
Mattie because he's got all these people in the workshop having like a twenty
grand service and someone's getting a full car offered to be rebuilt for six
hundred thousand dollars.
And that's caused a stir at Bugatti.
So that's really messed the relationship up between Alex and Mattie.
As far as me and Mattie, you can say, we might be all right.
I don't know. I don't know.
The saving grace with Mattie, though, is he's a young guy.
He's like he's our age.
He's like he's less than 40.
He's yeah, he's a young guy.
So I think they've brought him in.
I mean, I think he's I think he is a a.
Like a phenomenon of what he can do with with batteries and the car and stuff like that.
And obviously, that's the way the world's going with with cars and battery powered
hybrid. That's why they need to push him to the forefront.
And also it's it's it's bringing Bugatti to to younger people because he is a younger person.
So, you know, personally, I mean, I don't know him, but personally,
I think he probably wouldn't be against helping you.
But it's obviously it's higher than than what he is.
Yeah, I think that that's the thing.
The whole protecting the brand thing is just bizarre for me.
But we if they wanted to protect the brand by the car from the auction.
Like if you don't want that car getting that car has a salvage rebuildable title.
So that car can be put back on the road.
The Bugatti have inspected it and then told the insurance.
Yeah, this car's feasible to put back on the road.
And so they full well know somebody's going to buy that at auction.
We've heard of Conan's eggs get flood damage.
And we know before 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 why have they not bought it themselves?
Can obviously afford it with 20 grand services.
I mean, people are going to come to you with their Veyrons.
And 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 centres and from their repair centres.
Yeah, there's that. I would never take it.
Like I wouldn't work on the only other car of like we've obviously worked on.
But it's only my myself is Alex's car.
I don't really work on customers cars.
But I think the eye opening thing is the when we show what's the cause made out of how it's built.
And then some customers taking the car to Bugatti and they're saying,
right, we're charging you $20,000 for a.
Nothing's $20,000.
Yeah, nothing is $20,000.
That's like, well, how much does how much the service is on paper?
Their service is 20,000 pounds on paper before your car goes into them.
So 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 like, it's platinum, this and platinum.
And then what we're showing is what what it actually is like.
When we do the service on this, we will show everyone.
There's no it's nowhere near to where did it even get 20,000 pounds?
So when I see these hotels and it's like, it's 20,000 pounds a night.
In what world is anywhere 20,000 pounds a night?
I don't I don't I don't there's no no way see from in a bed.
It's 20. OK, you get the experience, but there's not.
I've stayed in so many hotels, which have been really expensive.
I 20 grand is a joke.
Like, where they get that from?
If you need any Winger switches, yeah, I have four of them in my room.
It's funny to say that.
I have a funny Winger switch on this.
Well, I can tell you where to get the part is from a Passat.
And, you know, I have them in my desk.
So Bugatti now. 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 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 that's the thing.
It's I don't know that as well.
The thing with with you think Bugatti know that.
Of course they do.
Yeah, just like, you know, like, it's it's just a month to it.
Yeah, but it's it's you're gone.
I think with 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.
Yeah, like, you know, for us, yeah, we're we're winning.
We're like, this is amazing.
Oh, watching it like, oh, no, because it's not necessary me.
But I know Alex, who's absolutely wild, he's going like, OK,
so he said, can't go 200 mile an hour.
We're going 200 mile an hour.
Can't be split enough.
We're going to go split in half.
You know, he's like, let's do everything he said we can't do
because that is just funked everything up by 10.
The fact that someone says you can't do it, even when you're a kid.
Don't you can't do this. You can't do that.
You want to do it even more like you want to do even more
because someone says you can't do it.
Were you in Miami when that video?
No, it's here. OK, 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 might spot?
And I was I can't believe it.
Like, like, I don't know whether it's like 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
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 that wouldn't have been good for you.
It would have been terrible.
It would be terrible.
But I feel like it felt pressured to respond to it
because Matt is quite active on like socials and stuff,
which is where he's helped him get to where he's at.
I think it's like the exposure he gives all the brands.
It's amazing. It's amazing what he's been doing.
It's really it's good.
Like 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 the that response didn't need to happen.
But I don't know.
Again, has someone told him to do that?
But I know a lot of like the guys who watch my videos
have been absolutely plastering his comments saying like, we need
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.
No, but like, you know, to design it is.
I don't understand the designing part of it.
I don't know how can somebody I don't 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 a head to head.
So he goes around and I'm saying, like, right, this is just off of Volkswagen.
Yeah, but to develop this part, we have to do this, this, this, this, this and this.
Where do they start?
Do they start with the engine and then they work out what body can we build
around the engine or is one geyser going there?
Like, right, this is this is the shape of the car.
We need to make it go two hundred and sixty mile an hour.
Now you need to build the engine to fit in that car.
Well, I don't what I'd love to know which way round it is.
But they're the 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 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 dealers sort of gatekeeping 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 I mean, working on it.
Is 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 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 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 now 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, six in Japan cars, and 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 the story that it costs five million to make them
seven million or something.
And, you know, I said this to you a minute ago before we turn the cameras on.
The minute this car is off and running and you drive it, your opinion will
completely change. Yeah, he said that because I've never driven one.
You're completely your opinion will completely change.
You will be like, I can see why this car costs.
Really? I'm excited for that moment.
I've had those.
I never used to like Porsches.
I never used to like them.
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.
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 it's 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 Porsche.
I was like, how can it be that much?
It just looks exactly the same.
But I think they've got something 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 they they
shear on super sports and the pure sports and stuff.
They have a very high cost price of three, four, five million pounds.
Yeah.
And the tourbillon is five million starting price.
So, I mean, it's an obscene amount of money for for a new car.
Yeah, 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.
Yeah.
But for a production car, it's obscene.
Is it? Yeah.
Like just it just got when you look at a Veyron for one and a half million.
Yeah.
I see every single penny.
Really? Yeah, I really do.
Well, I'll take your word for that when I drive it.
I'm you'll call me.
You'd be like, you're right.
I'm so excited to drive it.
And it's never it would 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
are kind of just used to almost switch off a bit.
So I think I'll never I'll never get that like a million pound.
I can't even think how do we even earn that money?
It's the same way when I used to drive down like these roads
used to drive for Indian takeaway and I used to deliver in the food.
And I'm like, how is someone this house is three million pounds?
How is someone buying a three million pound house?
I was like, you can get lent four times more than you wage.
So even a doctor who says on a hundred grand a year,
how are they buying a three million pound house?
I just thought it's just something so unobtainable
that it's never going to happen.
But here we are in it 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 was 450 and then
how many people are actually going to get the experience to be able to drive it
as their own is 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.
Like, 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. Yeah. That's it.
I wait. I couldn't buy.
I would never go to your dealership and buy a car if you are because
because that's the reason he's fucking here to sell you one.
You think he does it for the podcast?
I can't buy anything from here, but I will sell you something.
I they're too good.
But you'd never buy a car that's not been crashed.
Never. I can't think of any reason.
Like, do you know, because the only way the only reason I'm able to buy
these cars is because they crash.
The whole reason I've got to this point.
So it feels like a cheat to be able to like I could save up the money
and buy an immaculate Bugatti off the showroom
like from Carl's say.
And then I just I just feel like that's a cheat.
I'd feel like I've cheated it.
Like, I don't know if it like and then also when I get the cars,
they're like the worst they could be.
And then I'll make them better.
I'll buy a car from Carl and it would be the best it could be
and it would get worse.
So I don't want to buy a car thinking I can't drive it.
I can't drive it.
So and you make it your own spec.
You change the colour, change the interior, put wheels on it, exhaust.
And I can do that because it's already had the worst happen to it.
It's already had that.
I'm not going to harm the value from putting wheels on it, putting it
because it's already it's already had the worst happen to it.
Like the worst bit like this one.
OK, it's not been in a crash, but it's got a bizarre history.
What is it? What's the history?
So it is this is repossessed.
So we were actually bidding against each other.
Well, we were bidding against each other,
but I believe that we were the only two bidders for this for this car.
Right. I've known the car for quite a few years
and a finance company called me, they repossessed the car.
And I mean, there's not the world wrong with it.
I mean, there's a there's a there's a gearbox problem.
Yes. And I think it's fixable.
Yeah. But I was happy to buy it because it wasn't accident damaged.
It wasn't categorized.
It was just it needed some work doing to it.
So it was it was a it was a repossession and not great, Nick.
I'm right to say that.
Yeah, I think that's I think it's as far as it goes.
I don't mind. I'm not seeing any of the Veyron in person.
Like I'm sure probably the next Veyron I'll see is probably Marx,
which probably made me feel a lot better about this one.
I think as far as it goes, when I took this apart compared to Alex's show on,
this is an odd life.
Like it's it's it's been like it's uphill paper round.
You know, everything's a bit rusty, a bit battered underneath.
I can tell stuff's been off before and and yeah, it's just kind of been like
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 Marx,
but not over a million.
OK, so when we why did God 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 we were sort of singing off two different him 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 Furlonger
and, you know, pay the premium for a name to get the car back in full work
in order. So what did you bid on it?
Seven hundred and fifty thousand.
That's why I'm not looking at him.
But I like his laugh.
I never signed a contract with anyone.
Yeah, this is a thing that 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 Marx is nine hundred.
Yeah, right. Less than a million.
For me, it's not.
I can't calculate.
But not to say it's Cos.
Cos seven fifth there is I can see.
Now I know what sort of money 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.
So I think expect the worst.
I spent two hundred and fifty grand on this.
And you want to flip it? Yeah.
You want to get rid of it?
And I say to somebody, like, OK, forget the past that it's had.
It's been to Bugatti.
I've spent two hundred and fifty thousand 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 what do you think you would have sold it for?
I would have put that car for one point two, maybe.
OK, so you might have been in for nine fifty.
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 a hundred 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 we like we can make stuff like the fact it's a complete car.
We've got an amazing starting point that hundred thousands.
Even now I'm thinking about it is crazy, because I don't even think
we'll even get to that to that figure.
Like it's going to be way cheaper.
It costs me at the minute a 30 amp fuse from Halfords to fix it.
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.
Like a lot of it's going to be it needs a service.
We know it needs a service.
Like, but we can do the service.
The service isn't twenty thousand pounds.
I've not got to go to Bugatti,
but I can solve that myself in my own way.
Like, I will probably touch up a few things or maybe get the interior
done like the paint is a massive thing underneath.
I don't know what it's going to be like, but I can see it's PPF.
Like over the rap is over the PPF.
So I'm hoping when I peel the rap back, the PPF has 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 cars, looking at today's prices.
He's thinking, OK, I'm spending 750 on it
and then I'm going to spend 200 grand over 12 months.
Yeah, for me, I'm not 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 one point to.
I think and they will be. Yeah. Yeah.
Like all the if anything's going to bring the very down
probably be me because you say that let me 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.
That's 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.
I mean, it's just it's just a normal price car.
So you actually have increased the premium of category cars.
They are still for sale.
Is that still for sale?
Well, is the what? Sorry? The Rivelto?
No, I think he sold it.
Yeah, because I noticed on that it was like it was that was he was asking.
I think I sold it for $400 or $425.
I sold that so cheap just to get rid of it.
Why? Why do you want to get rid of it?
I hated that thing.
I don't know what your take on the Rivelto's are, but it was just
you had a headache with it, though, anyway, I just I can't.
Why do you hate it?
It just does not. 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 Rivelto.
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 Rivelto.
I brought it down, made an offer on it, bought it.
I think I bought it for two fifteen.
Was it two fifteen?
Wow. And that's what was about five hundred grand car.
Yeah, the five fifty.
Yeah, five fifty.
He got it for and it was plus that.
And was it a mess that was a crash?
Yeah, it was bad. It was bad.
And but it got to the point where we rebuilt it.
And I think at one point was
a couple of hundred grand into it.
And then as in the rebuild was.
Yeah, yeah, it was a couple of hundred grand.
Yeah, yeah, you spent a lot on that car.
Yeah, it was because all the parts
you can't get second hand parts for it because new brand new.
Everything was being ordered from Lamborghini.
And it wasn't registered as crash damage.
It was wasn't a registered car and it never went for 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 every.
Oh, even when I ordered a front subframe for it,
rang up, called for some front subframe.
And then they're like, we need photos of the car.
Why are you ordering the front subframe?
Because what we've learned is that other companies will buy parts
off cars like the Revoltto to use his development for their own cars.
So like, let's say BMW is buying parts from Mercedes cars
to use his development for their own cars.
And we've kind of learning this trick along along the way is what's happening.
So they want to see a photo of the car.
Why do you want a front subframe?
Soon as you send a photo to Lamborghini, it's as good as well.
There goes your warranty.
I can't read like 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 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 is got it was crash data on the 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.
You have to replace the entire battery.
And what was the battery?
Thirty five.
Thirty, thirty five.
For a hybrid battery on a hypercar, supercar, isn't that expensive?
No, now, now I'm thinking about it, but it was still.
Oh, if I run, I didn't need to spend because the battery was completely fine.
But it's not just that.
It's not it's not just it was then thirty five grand.
Oh, 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 four hundred grand in repairs in this car anyway.
Like, I think I think it was like four hundred and some thousand pounds for ninety.
Maybe I was in total with the car and I drove it.
Then I drove it all the through Europe and into Italy and not one point.
I thought, yeah, this is a five hundred grand car.
You know, it sat in it and it was too nice.
It was too nice.
It was 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, like,
which is what you what you buying it for.
And it's two planted on the motorway.
It's quiet. Everything's all touchscreen in the middle, which I hated.
You change changing the air con with you.
I can't take the air con up and down and I can't turn the radio up and down in one either.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Everything was all touchscreen.
There's no like I just did.
I just didn't get on with it.
I didn't particularly even like the look of it that much.
And I thought for the amount of hassle it's given me, I just I can't gel with it.
And I know as soon as I'm going to 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 a drop in price.
Revolta is coming down. Everything's coming down.
I was like, now's the time.
If I'm going to get rid of it, now's the time to get rid of it.
And 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.
Repair it.
Repair it, 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 I don't want
somebody buying a car off Matt for clicks online or something.
Because we like 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 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 I that could I feel like would happen is that someone
would buy the car and then they start tearing it apart or something.
Oh, I bought Matt Armstrong's Revolta.
Look at this. Look at that.
Like the repair was a hundred percent.
I know it was a hundred percent, but you these people when they get the cars,
they can do you can doctor anything to make it look like.
We know the car was a hundred percent of 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 it's there.
It's done with a rather have that peace of mind than I sell it to someone
for five hundred grand and then they're thinking, Oh, why is it not got this?
Why is there a fault with this?
I'm going to put this online and expose you about this.
That the other like I just rather not have two years later yet a phone call
because someone's Bluetooth doesn't work.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, I don't know how you do it.
Jeff here, I bought that car and you repaired it in the Bluetooth.
I coughed. Yeah, yeah, I don't know how 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.
Yeah, because you 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 never, ever, ever going to 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 cost a lot of so many people like I wouldn't buy it.
It's crash. It's been in a crash.
And when we took apart these cars and then as long as you put them back together
correctly, they they were as good as not crash.
So it's going to it's going to 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 going, 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 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 it's mental that but that's why it'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 open eyes to that.
Like, OK, this is this is how the repairs with 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. Yeah.
I've only got a spanner the same as you.
Yeah. Do you know what I mean?
It's not it's not going back into this mythical room where it just assembles itself.
It's a fucking transformer because no one can see it.
They don't know you think it's a magic trick.
But we've had all the main dealer techs are watching our videos and we're speaking to them.
And they they love they love the videos.
We took the car to Aston Martin and the guys are videos are brilliant.
We never knew that like this was off a Renault and this was off like 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 and it's it's it's done like so it they they love it the same way.
So they were all human.
Everyone's gone to work on a car.
No, 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 one his entire life.
It does. It makes no different at all.
And made mistakes and done it wrong. Yeah. Yeah.
And learn that's not the way you do it.
So the next time you do it, you do it right.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
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Do you ever get any manufacturers or like dealerships from manufacturers call you for advice?
Yeah, we do.
Yeah, I don't think I can say.
I don't think I can say.
You like that question?
I've driven all the way from fucking down nowhere to be here today.
I don't think I can say.
You've got a name drop, it's 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, isn't it?
I don't necessarily like that brand.
That's the funny thing is Lamborghini is, 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 are like, 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 content creator or something like that, or Lamborghini don't do it.
So Ferrari are not going to do it.
Lamborghini have opened their factory for influencers to go around and film with.
Oh, Ferrari is doing it now, and it's, we've got...
OK, so say a Lamborghini, someone hard with Lamborghini says that basically 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.
And they said, OK, 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 refusing to work on my Lamborghini.
And we were going to go down to Italy, we're going to have the car parked outside, or they can't work it, but...
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.
Like, 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 point...
...to 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, 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, repairs 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, it's too late.
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 like, 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 say good words about Bugatti or go to the factory and film around there and we'll help you along the way.
I think it's going to look amazing for their brand.
My audience is going to love that.
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.
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 at the minute the CEOs and the top guys at the brand are old geezers who don't know what YouTube is.
But do you know why? It's plain as day for me.
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 in a way they've got a kind of war 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 this a similar situation with when if something gets damaged and a car goes to Porsche as a Porsche approved repair.
If I repaired a car and then we 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's got to be the only reason 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 think so.
I just think like we're not out there to cause harm or chaos.
I just want to calm maybe not.
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 and 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 is probably good for him that he didn't do that because he was he wants to stay away away from it and like just completely step away from this crash.
But we do think if he just come on camera and add a bit of a laugh and a joke about it would have posted him in such a good.
Well everyone knows it was his car.
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 add a bit of a laugh.
Oh yeah.
Left training and I put my foot down and I've had a knock.
Well you know the details of the crash weren't to be proud of.
No no no.
And we've heard 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 a 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.
It questions a lot an older woman car I think it was but.
I mean if you're if you're is if you're is like publicist.
Yeah.
You're saying do not comment on this at all.
Yeah.
Do not comment on that I'm strong.
That's another thing like it's like the car's gone to the worst person.
Fuck this you should have just burnt it on the road.
We've heard we've heard stories that like it at the time it was like international like work for the England lads and like Russia was in there and some of the lads are saying that that is being wound up by the players because of the videos have gone out and they know Marcus loves his cars and
everything and then they will call him a crap driver.
Because the fact that like is even watched the videos is just it makes it fun.
But maybe if someone would have couriered into the side of him and they would have been at fault.
Yeah.
He would have come on your channel.
Yeah.
I mean the car ship myself someone come into the side of me doing 50 miles an hour like.
Yeah.
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 are 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 it.
Fucking Labour.
Keir Star with a wanker.
Yeah that's the way it's going but because YouTube's real and it's real time it's not filmed last year and then put out next year and I think that's the way it's going.
About this episode
Mat Armstrong and guests dig into the fallout around a Bugatti rebuild, where brand-protection claims clash with the reality of how these cars are engineered and serviced. They debate why Bugatti won’t sell parts for customer repairs, comparing it to warranty/liability fears and pointing to online clip-meme dynamics that escalated tensions with another creator. The conversation also covers the economics of restoring wrecked supercars, why “$20k services” can be inflated, and how modern brands gatekeep tools/software—plus a detailed Lamborghini hybrid battery saga and broader thoughts on manufacturer relationships with influencers.
Original notes
Most people see a crashed supercar as a total loss… unless you’re Mat Armstrong.
Mat Armstrong is a British automotive creator who specialises in rebuilding crashed supercars and returning high-performance vehicles back to their former glory. In this rare conversation, we discuss Mat's battle with Bugatti, buying crashed supercars and what it really takes to maintain luxury cars.
Timestamps:
0:00 - 0:50 Mat Armstrong
0:51 - 16:20 Bugatti Lawsuit
16:21 - 22:55 What’s Really Inside Bugatti Cars
22:56 - 30:29 Buying New vs. CRASHED Supercars
30:30 - 42:13 Repairing & Selling Lamborghini Revuelto
42:14 - 52:50 Car Brands Reaction to Mat's Work
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Cars & Money
Rob Moore & Carl Hartley
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