Bolide

The Bolide is a Bugatti model designed and created purely for the race track. Only 40 will be built.

I got my 1:24 Bolide model for £17.99 (plus p&p) from Wonderland Models.

The (scissor) doors open in this model, but nothing else.

#19 in the collection!

And, of course, Supercar Blondie got access to one of the 40 Bolides.

'Baby' Bugatti

The 'Baby' Bugatti is a half-size Type 35. It's sometimes referred to as 'Type 52', though that doesn't appear to be an official factory designation.

The 'Baby' has an electric motor and was created by Ettore for his five year old son Roland. It created a bit of a stir and was then taken into production for children. Several hundred were produced.

The job lot in which my Type 35 model came included several much smaller Type 35 models. The scale of these was not specifically mentioned anywhere on the models, but it turned out they're almost exactly half the size of my 1:24 Type 35 model ... You see where this is going?

So here it is, a 'Baby' Bugatti!

And here is the 'Baby' with its parent.

Sure, this is not specifically a 1:24 scale model of a 'Baby', but it's very similar, if not identical to what it would look like if it was produced (note the lack of a crank handle, which the 'Baby' also didn't have!). And that's good enough for my collection!

And the picture that just had to be taken: the 'Baby' next to the Type 41 Royale Coupe Napoleon!

Chiron '42 seconds'

When I started this collection, I set myself a limit of not collecting different colour schemes of the same model. Now I have a Chiron in my collection, so no further Chirons, right? But when a model of the '42 seconds' Chiron popped up on eBay, I felt this unique Chiron was different enough ...

The '42 seconds' Chiron, driven by Colombian racing driver Juan Pablo Montoya, set a world record of going from 0 km/h to 400 km/h and back to 0 km/h in 42 seconds. Here is the actual car (note the number 42 on the grill!):

... and here is my 1:24 model from Maisto, off eBay for only £12.

'Zero-400-zero' is shown on the windshield and '42 Seconds' on the side of the car.

Different enough for me to add to the collection: #17.

And here is a video of the word record being set.

Type 41 Royale 'Coupé Napoleon'

As I mentioned before, only seven Type 41 Royale cars were ever made, six of which survive to this day. Probably the most famous of these six is the 'Coupé Napoleon'.

Models of this Bugatti regularly pop up on eBay, but mostly with asking prices or starting bids of £60-100+. Sometimes they are offered for less, but then there usually is clear damage and/or parts are missing.

But good things come to those who wait, and I managed to get my hands on a 1/24 model in perfect condition, for £25 (plus p&p), so I'm still obeying my '£25 rule'!

As you might expect from a Franklin Mint model, it is very detailed and of generally high quality. So next to my Type 41 Royale 'Esder', I now have a second Type 41 model in the collection!

'Mirror' Veyron

Autostadt, Wolfsburg, adjacent to the VW head quarters, houses a very unusual Bugatti Veyron: the body of that car basically has a mirror coating, and it is displayed in a space full or mirrors ...

Quite spectacular sight, isn't it?

And what turns up listed on eBay? A mirror-silver Bugatti Veyon model, very similar (apart from the mirror surface) to my Veyron 16.4 model. Now I made a rule for my Bugatti collection not to have multiple colours of the same model, but this model links to a very specific and unique Veyron car, even though it's not meant to be a model of that specific Veyron. So ... you know what happened next, right?

The one clear difference between the model and the actual car is that the model has a sun roof which the 'Mirror' Veyron in Wolfsburg does not have.

And here's a montage of some more pictures of the actual 'Mirror' Veyron

Type 35

The most famous Bugatti race car, without a shadow of a doubt, is the Type 35. It won many races, mostly between 1925 and 1933.

Combining the different engine versions, about 330 Type 35s were produced from 1924 onwards.

Yes, there is a 1:24 diecast model of a Type 35 Bugatti on the market, but the listings on eBay were mostly with starting bids or buy-it-now prices between £85-150, and that's way too much for me .... But then I saw a Type 35 on eBay as part of a job lot (together with other (smaller scale) models, mostly Type 35 but also two Mercedes) with a very low starting bid.

I guess the listing went under the radar, because I won the bidding with a total of just £34. So that means I got the 1:24 Type 35 for ~£21 (still under my self-imposed £25 maximum!)

It's a Franklin Mint model, so heavy and highly detailed. There was some slight damage: the windshield was missing, but that was easy to replace with a piece of transparent plastic, cut to shape. 

My collection would never have been complete without a Type 35; patience paid off!

And what about the other Bugatti models in the job lot? One now lives on my desk at work.

And for the others I haven't yet found a permanent place in the house, but that will happen soon, I'm sure!

La Voiture Noire

La Voiture Noire is a one-off Bugatti model, designed and built as homage to the almost mythical lost black Type 57 Atlantic car, which is known as 'La Voiture Noire'.

Like all other modern Bugatti cars, and inspired by the clear seam on the Type 57 Atlantic, the modern La Voiture Noire also has a seam running along the length of the car. In a clear nod to its 1930s namesake, even the windshield is split. And note the six exhaust pipes on both cars ...

Reports of prices of this unique Bugatti seen on-line range from €11 million to €17 million, making it the most expensive Bugatti car ever. Though if the mythical original La Voiture Noire ever surfaces, it is estimated to fetch north of $100 million ...

The only 1:24 model of La Voiture Noire I have seen was on Aliexpress, and it cost me just over £20 (including p&p from China). 

Doors, trunk and engine cover open in this model ...

And it has a car alarm! If you open the doors, the lights start flashing and the car emits an alarm sound!

What are the chances that Supercar Blondie has not been able to make a video of her with the car? Indeed, zero; here it is: