Michel Dovaz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michel Dovaz taught wine courses at the Academie du Vin in Paris when he served as a judge at the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. He subsequently wrote several books on French wine as well as the chapter on Champagne for the Hachette Guide des Vins.

Dovaz was also the owner of a collection of 50+ unrestored old-timers, which he stored on his estate south of Paris up to 1984. The collection consisted of prewar and postwar cars of the most luxurious brands (nine Bugatti, nine Lancia, four Alfa Romeo, four Lincoln, two Ferrari, two Lotus, two Rolls Royce, two Bentley,...). The collection became famous when a German photographer was allowed to take photos of the wrecks in 1983 in a savaged garden south of Paris. These photos where published in two book and several magazines all around the world under the name "Sleeping Beauties" (1986, 2007). Most of the cars have been sold since then, many even have been restored.

A third book, realized by two Dutchmen and a German, is planned to be published in autumn 2008. This book is meant to tell the true story behind the collection, and the fate of the single cars.