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'.