Bugatti and the London-based Little Car Company are collaborating to make 500 miniature electric Bugattis for kids — and now some of them have just become available to buy.
Initially, all 500 of the mini electric cars that the companies prepared to make were sold after the car was revealed at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. Because of the coronavirus crisis, however, some consumers changed their minds, making a few available for new consumers, Bugatti announced Friday.
This new all-electric miniature car is referred to as the Bugatti Baby II and starts at about $35,000. It’s a modern interpretation of the original Bugatti Baby from almost a century ago.
In 1926, Ettore Bugatti aimed to make a car for his youngest son so he helped create a drivable half-sized replica of the well known Bugatti Type 35 racing car. Originally, there was only supposed to be a single car, but Bugatti’s customers were so delighted by the little car that the company made about 500 more examples.
The new Bugatti Baby II is somewhat larger. It’s 75% of the size of an original Bugatti Type 35. While the original Bugatti Baby was meant for an eight-year-old to drive, the new car is meant for young teenagers.
And this time it’s electric. The Bugatti Baby II comes in three variants. The base model has two driving modes. In Novice mode the car can go up to 12 miles per hour. In Expert it can go up to 30 miles per hour.
Vitesse and Pur Sang versions can go even more fast. These upgraded versions cost $50,000 and $68,000, and they come with a Speed Key. As with the Bugatti Chiron supercar, the Speed Key unlocks the small cars’ full performance potential. With it, they can go up to 42 miles per hour and, depending on the weight of the driver, can go from zero to 60 miles an hour in as quickly as six seconds. These more powerful versions, with their larger battery packs, can drive up 31 miles on a single charge.
Bugatti test driver Andy Wallace, the same man who drove a Bugatti Chiron over 300 miles an hour on a test track, assisted in the development of the suspension settings for the Bugatti Baby II.”In its most powerful mode, when you have the ‘Speed Key’ inserted, the Baby II is a very fast car. It’s quite impressive and brilliantly fun,” Wallace said.
Buyers of the two more premium versions can select whatever paint colors they like, including all the colors available on the Chiron.
