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: