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100 years later, the Bugatti Type 35 gets an electric, limited edition refresh

Bugatti Baby II Type 35 limited edition: It's electric!

By Bruce Brown May 15, 2024 12:36 PM

Château Saint Jean in Molsheim.. — Bugatti / Bugatti

Bugatti and The Little Car Company have unveiled the Bugatti Baby II Type 35 Centenary Edition. The six three-quarter-scale electric cars commemorate the six Bugatti Type 35 racecars built to compete in the 1924 Grand Prix de Lyon.

Why the electric Bugatti Baby II Type 35 Centenary Edition matters

Château Saint Jean in Molsheim with six Bugatti Baby II Type 35 Centenary Editions parked in front. — Bugatti / Bugatti

Under founder Ettore Bugatti’s direction, Bugatti built six Type 35 cars for the 1924 Grand Prix. Five racecars were entered in the race, and one was kept as a spare.

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The spare racecar wasn’t needed for that original race in 1924, and during the next ten years, the Type 35 established a record that has never been equaled, with more than 2,500 wins or top-three finishes.

The Baby II Type 35 Centenary Edition represents the original six unique racecars.

What exactly is the Bugatti Baby II Type 35 Centenary Edition?

All six Bugatti Baby II Type 35 Centenary Editions on the gravel drive entry of Château Saint Jean in Molsheim. — Bugatti / Bugatti

The Little Car Company, located in Oxfordshire, U.K., hand-builds “junior” limited editions of some of the world’s most remarkable cars under license by the original manufacturers. The Bugatti Baby II is one of The Little Car Company’s standard models, limited to 500 cars. You can configure the Baby II with various options, including fenders, affixed spare tire, colors, and battery size. The Centenary Edition of six cars, however, is extra special.

The six cars in the Baby II Centenary Edition are unique because they have the same chassis numbers as the original cars. The six cars, which have aluminum bodies with Bleu de Lyon paint similar to the 1924 models, also have hand-painted race entry numbers on the radiator, hood, and boat tail that match the originals. The car that represents the original ‘spare’ racecar does not have a number because, if it were needed in the 1924 Grand Prix, the entry number for the car it replaced would have been added before the start.

The Little Car Company started with a 3D scan of the 1924 Bugatti Type 35 racecar. The cars have electric powertrains. The six cars in the Baby II Type 35 Centenary Edition have been sold to collectors.

Bruce Brown Contributing Editor As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce… Read Full Bio

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