A CLASSIC ‘Bugatti’ left to rot in a rubbish-filled garage is expected to fetch more than £100,000 at auction – despite being a fake.

Eccentric engineer Alan Riley bought the Bugatti Type 51 in 1987 and was convinced it was the car used to win a 1931 grand prix.

But the car is actually a replica built in the mid-1980s with just two original Bugatti components.

Despite being a fake that has been left to deteriorate for nine years, it is still expected to attract global attention when it is sold in September.

Experts are estimating the replica will fetch more than £100,000 when it goes under the hammer.

However, this figure is only a fraction of the £2 million an authentic Type 51 would sell for on the open market.

Mr Riley, who died last year, left the car in a garage at his home in Hartlebury – with the Bugatti covered in bin bags and rubbish over the past nine years.

Auction house Brightwells recently battled through rusted cars, overgrown trees, boxes and bin bags to retrieve the mystery motor.

The model, built by the late London-based engineer Keith Butti, is manufactured to Type 51 specification.

It has just two original parts – the fuel tank and the rear cross member. But like an original Type 51, it has a 2.3-litre supercharged, eight-cylinder engine which developed around 180bhp when it was built.

David Sewell, an independent Bugatti consultant, is familiar with the car having seen it at various meetings in the 1980s and 1990s.

He said: “We never had the chance to inspect this car but now we know everything about it.

“Alan never raced the car but he took it to Bugatti meetings all around the UK. He would always say it was an original “It is not a genuine Type 51 but it has been built to Type 51 specification. A real Type 51 is worth about £2 million and a replica is worth about 10 per cent of that.

“If you were to build a replica it would cost £150,000 and I’d be very surprised if it didn’t fetch more than £100,000.

“It needs some TLC but will be great to see it out and on the road again.”

The Bugatti, which is offered without a reserve, will go under the hammer on Wednesday, September 26.