Like the first ever Baby Bugatti built by Ettore Bugatti in 1926 for his youngest son’s birthday, this Baby Bugatti replica is a labor of love. In Frans Keuken’s case, it all began when his son asked for a soapbox car, circa 1990. While the scale Bugattis that Keuken has since built are superbly detailed and fully working, the first one he made used rope as a steering system.
Thankfully, Keuken’s craft has come a long way since then, even moving from internal combustion propulsion to electric motors in this one. Keuken says this fourth Baby Bugatti is his last and is for sale. The price tag is unknown but hopefully, it’ll be lower than the $100,000+ a real, limited-edition Baby Bugatti will set you back.
At the same time, expect detailing worthy of the Baby Bugatti tag, as it seems Keukens’ latest is detailed to the brim with a working dashboard, telltale lights, milled wheels, and whatnot, just like the limited-run examples that Bugatti itself will sell you.
Ettore designed the Baby Bugatti as a scaled-down replica of the famed Type 35 race car that made the marque such a force to reckon with in the first place. Named the Type 52, the Baby Bugatti was even sold to the public thanks to popular demand, though it started life as a one-off.
[Rijnmond]
