Like other marquee luxury brands, Bugatti is dipping its toes into the electric waters, reviving one of its classic models, but with a twist.
To celebrate the storied brand’s 110th birthday, instead of shoehorning a battery pack into a classic car, or creating a wild new electric concept with lines reminiscent of an old car, Bugatti is reviving a model that the company’s founder, Ettore Bugatti, built in 1926 for his son Roland, the Bugatti Baby.
The Baby was a running, child-sized replica of the Bugatti Type 35 racecar. The new Baby II will have electric power, and like its forebear is designed for kids to drive.
READ MORE: Royal couple’s electric Jaguar E-type Zero coupe will go into production
Of course, plastic, electric powered kiddie cars are hardly revolutionary. But the Baby II is designed for adults as well. It’s significantly larger than the gas-powered 1920s version, three-quarters of the size of the (tiny) original Type 35 racer.
In kid mode, the motor produces 1 horsepower and can reach a top speed of 12 mph. But it also has a Dad (or Mom, Aunt, or Uncle) Mode with 5.4 horsepower and a top speed of 28 mph. At that rate, Grandma or Grandpa could practically tootle around their retirement village in it.
Bugatti Baby II
An upgrade, Key Mode, returns the car to its roots as a racer and unlocks 13 horsepower and removes the speed limiter.
It has modern regenerative as well as hydraulic brakes, and headlights. (It does not, however, have federally certifiable brake-lights, turn signals, windshield, or other requirements for the road, so don’t really led Grandma or Grandpa drive it on the street.)
CHECK OUT: Electra Meccanica teases new-old e-Roadster
Bugatti introduced the Baby II at the Geneva auto show earlier this month, and plans to produce 500 of them this year—the same number as Roland’s original Bugatti Baby.
The cost, to start, will be $34,000—making it the most affordable way to get your hands on the wheel of a genuine Bugatti in a very long time.
Try this at home, kids!
View original article at: “https://www.greencarreports.com//news/1122252_bugatti-baby-meet-the-baby-bugatti-electric”
