Chiron

Successor to the Veyron, the Chiron is named after Bugatti's Monégasque racing driver Louis Chiron, who was especially active in the 1920s and 1930s. The car is produced in various versions, with the 'base' model setting you back by about $3 million.

There are plenty of 1:24 scale Chiron models available, in a wide range of colours (good that I made a rule not to go for different colours of the same model!). I got mine, new, for £19.99 (plus p&p) from Wonderland Models. 

The model is of good quality, with nice details inside, though only the doors open. I deliberately went for the white/blue colour scheme, to ensure it looks very different from my red/black Veyron model.

As the badge shows: #5!

And to take us back to the actual car, here is Supercar Blondie driving a Chiron:

'De la Chapelle' Type 55

The Type 55 was a sports car, produced in the first half of the 1930s. Only 38 Type 55 cars were made, 16 of which were two-seater roadsters.

There are quite a few listings on eBay for a 1:24 Type 55 roadster, and I got mine for only £7 (plus p&p); I was the only bidder! 

The model is in very good condition, with no damage that I can see. Doors don't open on this model, but the engine compartment does (though not in the way it would have done on the actual car). Number 4 in the collection!

Although .... not all appeared to be as it seemed at first .... The box which contained the model showed it to be a 'Bugatti 55 de la Chapelle'. 

At first, I didn't pay that much attention to that, thinking de la Chapelle would be the builder of the car's body (many classic Bugattis had bodies designed and built by other coach builders). But then I realised that the body of the Type 55 was actually designed by Jean Bugatti, and not by an outside coach builder ... So who or what is 'de la Chapelle'? Some googling showed De la Chapelle to be a French independent car builder, established in the 1970s .... So no way could my model be of a Type 55 from the 1930s! Bit more digging showed that the company built a Type 55 replica, sanctioned by the Bugatti family, with a BMW engine .... And the '1987' on the licence plate of the model may well be more than just four random digits.

So my model is actually a model of a replica of a Bugatti Type 55! And not of a genuine Bugatti .... Even so, I decided to keep it in the collection, as an unusual non-Bugatti Bugatti.

But I clearly do need to add a model of a genuine Bugatti Type 55 to the collection; watch this space!

Veyron 16.4

Following the collapse of Bugatti Automobili in 1995, and the establishment of Bugatti Automobiles by Volkswagen in 1998, design work started on a successor of the EB110. That work resulted in the Veyron, named after Pierre Veyron, a successful racing driver for Bugatti in the 1930s. The '16.4' refers to the engine having 16 cylinders (in W-arrangement) and 4 turbochargers.

A total of 450 Veyron cars was produced, in several different versions. The basic version went for nearly $1.5million.

Do notice the shape of the grill at the front of the car, and the faint longitudinal ridge running along the length of the car. Clear nods to classic Bugattis in general (the shape of the grill) and to the 'seam' of the Type 57 Atlantic specifically. 

Strange enough, unlike the EB110 model, there are very few 1:24 diecast Veyron models on the market. The only one I could find was situated in China, which I got through eBay for £19.99 (plus p&p).

The model is in perfect state, which it should be, as I bought it new. The doors and the luggage compartment open; the engine cover doesn't. 

Given that the real Veyron was the successor to the real EB110, it is only appropriate that my Veyron model follows on from my EB110 model. Also, I now have a model from each of the three phases in the ownership history of Bugatti: owned by Ettore himself, owned by Bugatti Automobili, and owned by Bugatti Automobiles.

And if you want to see a bit more of a real Veyron, here's a Supercar Blondie video of a truly unique Veyron:

EB110

The EB110 was the first Bugatti for nearly 40 years to come on the market in 1991, following the purchase of the brand by the Italian 'Bugatti Automobili' company a few years earlier. 'EB' obviously stands for Ettore Bugatti, and the '110' refers to its introduction exactly 110 years after his birth. Some design elements of the earlier Lamborghini Countach can be seen in the EB110, for instance the 'scissor doors'. 

Some 130-odd EB110s were produced until the company went bust in 1995. Nowadays, when an EB110 comes up for sale, it can fetch several million pounds. It wasn't difficult for me to get my hands on a 1:24 model on eBay, and it was a lot less expensive (I paid less than £10 for the model; plus p&p).

The Countach-like 'scissor doors' can open ...

... as can the mid-engine compartment.

The model is used, but in very good shape (a few really tiny notches in the paint, and the rear lights needed a drop of glue to put them where they should be). Guess with two Bugatti cars, one classic and one modern, I do have a proper collection now!

Type 57 Atlantic

The first for my Bugatti 1:24 collection! Is a collection consisting of one item actually a collection?

Whether or not, the Type 57 Atlantic, dating from the 1930s, has been declared by many to be one of the most beautiful, most exotic or most bizarre Bugatti designs. I tend more towards the beautiful and exotic than the bizarre, but eye-catching and unique it is for sure. Only four Atlantic Type 57s were ever produced, three of which survive to this day (the fate of one remains unknown). One of these three changed owner in recent years for the princely sum of $35 million, whereas if the fourth Atlantic is ever found, it is expected to be worth over $100 million ...

Fortunately, there are plenty of Type 57 Atlantic 1:24 models listed on eBay, and they're not nearly as expensive as the real thing. So I'm glad I got one, for under a tenner (including p&p), to kick off the Bugatti 1:24 collection.

Note the characteristic 'seam' running across the rear, roof and front window. By the way, the EXK-6 number plate is an actual number plate of genuine Type 57 Atlantic, the final of the four Atlantics produced.

The model is in very good shape; I couldn't see any damage anywhere. The doors open in this model (with hinges at the rear of the doors; somehow that seems to make much more sense than hinges at the front) as does the engine compartment.

Collection has kicked off now; which one is next? Watch this space ...

Bugatti 1:24

This is the closest I'll ever come to actually driving a Bugatti ...

The keyfob opens a run-of-the-mill Ford Focus, and me saying that it's actually a perfectly disguised Bugatti doesn't seem to work. But when it comes to real Bugattis, I've only ever seen two Bugattis 'in the flesh', so to speak, both at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu.

One is a Type 15, and this particular car is said to be the second oldest Bugatti in existence:

And the other one a Type 35. I saw that car twice, during two separate visits, and in two different places in the Museum (guess they move some of their cars around at times):

One day I'll make it to the Bugatti museum in Mulhouse ...

In anticipation of that future visit, I decided to start my own wee collection of Bugatti cars, classic as well as modern. And the 'wee' has a double meaning here .... 'wee' as in 'wee collection of cars' and as in 'collection of wee cars'. Of course, I'm talking about model cars, and no prizes for guessing the scale I'm going to focus on (1:24 is a nice scale, not too big and not too small).

Classic as well as modern?? Maybe a bit of automotive history is useful here ...

Bugatti was founded in 1909 by Ettore Bugatti, and the cars became famous for both their engineering quality as the artistry of their design. After WWII, the company fizzled out during the 1950s. In total, fewer than 8000 cars were made.

Rebirth occurred around 1990, when the Bugatti brand was bought by an Italian company, named 'Bugatti Automobili', with the aim of creating high end sport and luxury cars. The company didn't survive for very long and went bust in 1995. Volkswagen then acquired the Bugatti brand in 1998 and created 'Bugatti Automobiles', a French subsidiary, which is in existence today, designing and building  top end supercars.

Are these modern Bugattis really Bugattis? Depends on how you define it, of course. Modern Mercedes or Chevrolets, say, are not designed and built by the same people as those in the early 19th century. The main difference is that there is continuation in the case of Mercedes and Chevrolet, whereas there is a nearly 40-year hiatus for Bugatti. Nevertheless, some design elements of modern Bugattis are clearly taken from or inspired by classic models, so for me there is a real connection and I do see modern Bugattis as real Bugattis. A really good website, presenting all Bugatti models ever made, classic and modern, and including prototypes, concept cars and one-offs is here.

Back to the upcoming collection, here are my self-imposed rules:

* 1:24 scale (obviously)

* diecast models (so at least partially metal; no fully plastic/resin models)

* no multiple colours of the exact same model (to avoid the collection getting out of hand; I know myself ...)

* maximum price around £25 (to avoid me getting silly and caught up in bidding wars ...)

A quick trawl through eBay, Amazon and the internet in general suggests I should be able to get my hands on at least half a dozen models easily. Hopefully, I will stumble across another small handful over time. 

So here goes! Expect a blog post for every 1:24 Bugatti model I add to the 'wee collection'.