MATTIA BALSAMINI shoots THE PEARL COLLECTION

THE CURATED ONES: Volume 5

Close to Lake Zug, a truly exceptional car collection is taking shape – not yet fully curated, but already a dazzling array of rarities and high-caliber icons. It’s a deeply personal homage to legendary sports car classics, spiced with curiosities. Undeniably exclusive yet always planted to the ground, a vibrant blend of heritage and modernity, with Bugatti at its core. Collector Fritz Burkard, freshly returned from the Le Mans Classic but already mentally headed for Pebble Beach, speaks about cars that tell stories – and those that made history.

The meeting was scheduled for 10:30, but the boss had already been there since 9, getting hands-on. “For me, it’s all about pure passion. No checklist, no plan, no clue what I’m doing.” A cheeky understatement – because the functional exhibition space holds nothing less than automotive icons like a Bugatti T59, the 2024 Pebble Beach Best of Show winner, one of what is believed to be only two original 8Cs from Scuderia Ferrari, number SF28, and a stunning number of Bugattis built since the Veyron. “It’s all about the mix,” says Fritz Burkard, 58, lean as a decathlete and seemingly built for the pre-war cars he adores – cars that don’t just sit around here, but are regularly taken out on the road.

“Last week I took the 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C Monza to the Le Mans Classic. When the rain started, the rear suddenly broke loose on the long straight. I instinctively let it breathe, corrected, hesitated for a moment – and then got back on the throttle: this car is a total challenge for mind and body. I could have a heart attack tomorrow – but until then, I want to have as much fun as possible. And that works infinitely better in old cars. I recently drove the 8C through the Gotthard Tunnel – you have to hear that sound for yourself. But the real driving bliss comes right after, winding up and down the old mountain road, quick and confident despite the damp cobblestones. Unforgettable!”

When we arrive, the Alfa is still on the transporter, leaving its spot in the Pearl Collection empty. Instead, attention shifts to the Best of Show winner from the previous year’s Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach. For the first time, a classic car in original condition took home the prize – a 1934 Bugatti that had been converted at least twice on its journey from race car to road car. A T59 bearing the chassis number of a T57, repainted multiple times, most recently by King Leopold of Belgium, who had the black body painted with yellow stripes. In the week leading up to the event, Fritz Burkard regularly drove the car on site – up and down Highway 1, through the little streets of Carmel, and along 17-Mile Drive to the ocean, often with one of his daughters in the passenger seat. In 2025, the plan is to drive all the way to Monterey Bay – under its own power, across America, in a freshly restored gem that’s still under wraps.

The Pearl Collection is a celebration of contrasts. Just behind the entrance, tucked in a corner, sits a Peel P50 three-wheeler – the smallest car in the world. Parked right in front of it is a blue Formula 3 racer, the same car Jean-Pierre Jaussaud drove to victory in Monaco in 1968. What ultimately convinced Fritz Burkard to acquire it, however, was the fact that Swiss F1 driver Clay Regazzoni also took a turn behind the wheel at one point. Behind the race-prepped BMW 02 and a baby-blue Citroën Ami 6 saloon stretches a deep crimson Hispano-Suiza H6 C. The collector himself recently took the massive, 100-year-old race car on a road trip through Andalusia – 900 kilometers in three days, no windscreen, but a top speed of 160 km/h.

“P50 and H6 C – I find these kinds of contrasts exciting. What fascinates me about the Peel is its radical minimalism, while the Hispano is impressive with its sheer torque. The engine displaces 8.3 liters, idles at 400 rpm, and from there up to just under 3000 revs, you experience sheer mechanical bliss. You just have to plan your braking carefully. Still, if I have the choice between a modern car and this one, the old one always wins.”

Bugatti is his great love – an enduring passion that stretches from Ettore’s earliest creations to the marque’s latest super sports cars. With the Bugatti Bolide, he owns one of just 40 examples of this 1,600-horsepower, 380 km/h hypercar – though not street-legal. “I had it out on the Hockenheimring. The performance is from another dimension. With Le Mans champion Andy Wallace as my guiding presence in the passenger seat, I experienced cornering forces, grip, and braking power like never before – truly mesmerizing. This car even resonates with young people on Instagram. When done right, it forms a bridge between the high-tech present and the brand’s no less exciting past. I’ve driven a Bugatti at 410 km/h – but speed in these cars is a relative concept: 300, 350, or even 400 all feel more or less the same. Almost a bit dull.”

A molto presto joyride in a modern Bugatti – up the Bernina Pass, though not quite to the top – turned its owner into a pedestrian for two years: 165 instead of 80 km/h was a bit too much for the cantonal police’s liking, even though the driver had only just shifted into third gear. That won’t happen again: for the next Bernina Hillclimb, the course will be closed off, and the already registered Bugatti T59 will get a solo start. Also always ready to run are legends like the Type 51, the one in which Achille Varzi won the Grand Prix of Tripoli, or the light blue Type 35, which was to take the checkered flag first at the 1929 Grand Prix of France. “The Type 35 was, with over 2,000 units, the most successful racing car of all time. I drove this car and its successor, the Bugatti 51, on the track at Montlhéry. In the pothole-riddled banked turn, I had to hold the steering wheel from below so I wouldn’t get thrown out. And I thought to myself: what are you doing here, this car is over a hundred years old – are you crazy? But the next lap, I floored it again.”

Among the jewels of the collection are oddities like the VW Type 3 trio – but not a single Mercedes, and no Porsches either. These brands hold little appeal for the connoisseur. The same goes for Bentley and for all Ferraris built after Enzo’s time. “Ettore Bugatti considered the Bentley Blower a truck. And how many patents was it that Enzo Ferrari registered? Exactly. The Bugattis, on the other hand, were all visionaries: father Carlo with his furniture, Ettore with his sports cars, his brother Rembrandt with his sculptures, and later Jean with his stunning automotive designs. Ettore also built airplanes, trains, buses, and boats. I love my Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione, the open 212, and the 400 Superamerica – but I have no interest in the F40, F50, or LaFerrari. I struggle with the brand today. It feels like it’s lost its identity. Say what you will about Lamborghini, but at least their design language is consistent – you can spot those sharp lines a mile away … Unfortunately, it’s not to my taste.”

When asked which models might one day complete the Bugatti collection, all you get is a mischievous smile. Burkard won’t comment on speculation about a Type 56 (a kind of evolved Prinetti & Stucchi tricycle) or a Type 101 (a luxury model and the very last post-war Bugatti) and simply waves it off: “There are currently ten to fifteen cars being worked on off-site – with so many restorations in the pipeline, I’m not acquiring anything at the moment. Besides, the exhibition is nowhere near finished. There are still plenty of images and objects looking for a home – never mind the 15,000-plus Bugatti artefacts that still need to be catalogued and, hopefully, put on display. The Pearl Collection is about sparking curiosity and joy. Especially for younger generations discovering classic cars for the first time.”

The website listing all the vehicles isn’t even online yet, but it’s already clear that this collection won’t gather dust behind closed doors. Instead, it’s meant to be accessible to those with a genuine interest. The plan is to offer intimate tours for small groups – without velvet ropes, no “Do Not Touch” signs, or motion detectors. Show real interest, and you might just get to open a door, settle into the driver’s seat, and drift off into a reverie on the worn leather, surrounded by the elixir de vitesse of a bygone era. There won’t be a ticket counter or fixed opening hours, but there will be guides to tell stories – or to dive deep into model and brand histories on request. Some of the exhibits are practically begging to be brought to life through multimedia. Where else can you marvel at a Hispano-Suiza omnibus, the Moon Buggy from Diamonds Are Forever, or the gadget-laden Aston Martin DB5 – the one that accompanied 007 through all sorts of adventures from 1964 to 2021?

I won the Aston at an RM auction in Monterey back in 2019. I absolutely had to have the car and was so excited I nearly outbid myself. The press said I overpaid. Funny thing is, a day later I had an offer on my desk that was 50 percent higher. There were four Bond cars – this one has all the gadgets working, except for the ejector seat. You can fire shots, flames shoot out the front, smoke from the back – only the rotating license plate can’t be used in Switzerland, of course. Driving it doesn’t quite live up to the hype – it’s by far the heaviest DB5 of its kind. But the overall package is just right. We also have the piano the James Bond theme was composed on, the original gold bars from Goldfinger, and from Thunderball, the life ring from the Disco Volante yacht – the one that split in half: part hydrofoil, part submarine. The only thing missing is the underwater Lotus Esprit, of which six were made. Elon Musk has one. Maybe Tesla will go bankrupt one day and I can buy it …”

Fritz Burkard’s remarkable collection reveals a keen eye for design and flair, materials and craftsmanship, a sure sense of style and expressive power. He also has a soft spot for slightly eccentric forms – like the almost-forgotten fastback, a visual thread that weaves through much of the collection. From the VW 1600 TL (whose TL was jokingly said to stand for traurige Lösung, or sad solution) to the ingenious but commercially ill-fated Tatra 87 with its rear-mounted V8, to the two streamlined Fiat 1100 coupés – one by Vignale, the other by Pininfarina – and the majestic Rolls-Royce Phantom II Streamlined Saloon with coachwork by Park Ward: the gentleman of the house clearly favors classics with gently sloping rooflines. Perhaps the most beautiful cars in the collection are the two-door French models from the brief but intensely creative interwar period. Styled with a mix of sensuality and splendor, these limited series and one-off convertibles and coupés were tailor-made for the grands boulevards of both the old and new world. Reigning over this rarefied automotive Olympus is the Talbot-Lago T150 C SS, its body by Figoni et Falaschi – a streamlined yet elegant form with fully enclosed rear wheels, made famous by its signature oval side windows and widely known as the “Teardrop.” No less beguiling is the Delage D8-120 S with De Villars coachwork, a dark blue and silver speedster that pays homage to the elegance and dynamism of the voitures bleues. Another standout from the era between the Belle Époque and Art Deco is the Delahaye 135M, a silver convertible by Saoutchik that, as a darling of the haute volée, easily outshone many a Rolls, Benz or Maserati.

You can ask Fritz Burkard just about anything – except when it comes to money. How much the cars cost, what they are worth, whether collecting has made or lost him money, which deals fell through and why – that’s all off the table in an otherwise relaxed atmosphere. “Money is the wrong lens,” he says, firmly. “For me, the most important gauge in a car is the Smile-O-Meter. If I drive a car worth millions and spend every moment worrying someone might hit it or put a scratch on it, then the Smile-O-Meter registers negative. What really counts is the fun you’re having, no matter the price tag. People who only show their cars in exhibitions miss out on 70 to 80 percent of the joy. Looking is great – but touching, smelling, driving, that is the real reward. This Bugatti here was once driven by Louis Chiron. Now I’m driving it – wearing his original cap, his worn gloves, and his goggles. On the old rattletrap circuit at Montlhéry, it almost killed me. And not just because the goggles were so scratched, I could barely see. But that’s what it’s all about. That’s real life. My life.”