Bugatti owes much of its reputation as a pre-eminent manufacturer of some of the world’s finest automobiles to models like the 1925 Type 35, a vehicle considered by many to be the most successful racing car of all time. With around 2000 professional and amateur wins to its name, at its peak the Type 35 was averaging 14 race wins per week. In 1926 Ettore Bugatti built a half-scale version of the Type 35 as a gift for his four-year-old son Roland. Complete with an electric motor, four-wheel brakes and even pneumatic tires it proved a hit not only with Roland but with many customers visiting Molsheim as well.
Thanks to this positive reception, the Bugatti ‘Baby’ ended up going into production with 500 units being built between 1927 and 1936. It is estimated that around 100 cars have survived, and one sold for $110,000 at Pebble Beach in 2008. More recently a Baby achieved $99,000 at a 2017 Artcurial auction in Paris. Clearly the interest in this little car hasn’t waned, and to celebrate Bugatti’s 110th birthday the company has decided to build a limited run of the Baby II, a contemporary version of the original Baby.
The Baby II will still be hand-built but using the latest technologies available. This time it will be three-quarters the size of the original Type 35 so that it can cater for both adults and children alike and the Baby II will have two driving modes to cater for both. The ‘child mode’ setting will deliver 1.3hp and be limited to 12.4mph while ‘adult mode’ offers 5.3hp and a hairy 28mph top end. Of course, Bugatti owners are used to a bit of speed and the Baby II is happy to oblige. It will come with an optional ‘Speed Key’ which unleashes the full 13.4hp of the electric motor and the speed limiter will be completely removed. Handy if you happen to live close to a three-quarter-size Autobahn…
As with the original Baby, the new car is much more than just a Bugatti-styled go-kart. It offers a removable lithium-ion battery pack, limited slip differential, headlights, regenerative braking and will have the same Bugatti ‘Macaron’ badge made of 50g of solid silver, like the Chiron’s. Prices start at $33,700 (excluding taxes and delivery charges) and Bugatti says that production will start in the fall of 2019. Cars ordered this year will all come with a badge to commemorate Bugatti’s 110th anniversary. To register your interest head on over to www.bugattibaby.com.
Images courtesy of Bugatti
