If your child is a petrolhead in the making and you want to spoil them, then you might want to consider spending £4,950 ($6,106.34 USD at current exchange rates). That’s because that’s what three weekends of racing in the Little Car Company’s newly announced Baby Bugatti II one-make racing series will cost.
Now, that’s a lot of money for a few weekends of fun, but it’s a significant savings over buying the car, which starts at €36,000 ($39,070 USD), and which you won’t have to do, since the racing series provides the Baby Bugatti II for you.
The series is being run in conjunction with HERO-ERA, and there are three events planned for 2023. The first is taking place on April 23, and will occur at the main hangar at Bicester Heritage, during the Bicester Scramble. Round two takes place in late May at Silverstone.
The final event will happen at the Prescott Hill Climb in July, at the home of the Bugatti Owners Club. As such, competitors will likely be able to see the Baby Bugatti II alongside the car that inspired it, the 1924 Bugatti Type 35.
Read: Bugatti Baby II Arrives In The USA With An Adult Price Tag That Can Top $70,000!
An icon of design and engineering, the Type 35 was one of the most successful race cars on earth in the ’20s. It cemented Bugatti’s legacy, and set the business strategy of selling holistically conceived racecars that is still used successfully to this day.
The Baby Bugatti II is the followup to the original Baby Bugatti, which was designed by Ettore Bugatti for his son Roland on his fourth birthday, in 1926. It was such a hit with visitors to the factory, that Ettore was forced to actually put it into production. Similarly, this series is being brought to life by popular demand.
“We’re frequently asked by clients, journalists and those that have sat in one of our cars: ‘When will you launch a race series for these little cars?’,” said Ben Hedley, the CEO of the Little Car Company. “Well now is that time, as we’ve partnered with HERO-ERA to create a new kind of electric motorsport: a three-stage, adult and child championship at the UK’s most iconic racing and automotive locations.”
Updated for the modern era, the Baby Bugatti II features an up to 13 hp (10 kW/13.5 PS) electric motor and (in the UK, at least) it can reach speeds up to 42 mph (68 km/h). As such, child competitors in the race series will have to be between 10 and 14 years of age.
The races will be open to 20 teams on a first-come-first-served basis, and they will be made up of one adult and one child. Both will compete in a series of skills-based driving challenges, and points will be combined for the team to determine their ranking in the championship.
Drivers won’t be expected to go into the challenge blind, though. Tutelage will be provided by 24 Hours of Le Man winner and Bugatti Pilote Officiel, Andy Wallace. Trophies for the season will be awarded at the final event in Prescott.
