Little Car Company's Bugatti Baby II goes on display at Harrods

Published by

Peter Davison

A fully-electric Bugatti Baby II made by Bicester Heritage-based The Little Car Company has gone on display at world-famous department store Harrods.

Taking pride of place in the technology area, on the fifth floor of the iconic Knightsbridge luxury store, the Bugatti Baby II is exhibited in Vitesse specification.

Presented in a Williams Green exterior with a Brun Cavalier colour Bridge of Weir leather interior, the vehicle’s colour scheme neatly complements the brand identity of the world’s most famous department store and is one of over 160 colour combinations available to clients.

Built in partnership with Bugatti, the Bugatti Baby II is a contemporary tribute to Ettore Bugatti’s original masterpiece, the Bugatti Baby, built in 1926.

The vehicle was developed to celebrate Bugatti’s 110th anniversary and is not only significant in preserving the history of the Bugatti marque, but also inspiring a new generation of young Bugatti enthusiasts.

Ben Hedley, CEO of The Little Car Company – which makes officially-branded drivable little cars for luxury high-end motor manufacturers – said: “We are incredibly honoured to be partnering with one of the world’s most famous luxury brands and are delighted to be able to present the Bugatti Baby II to all its visitors.

"This is an unbelievable milestone for The Little Car Company and testament to the handcraftsmanship and attention to detail that goes into producing these incredible junior cars.”

Visitors to the store can view the 75 per cent scale vehicle close up and enquire with one of Harrods’ friendly sales team about reserving an exclusive build slot.

When purchasing one of these Bugatti Baby IIs, Harrods clients are offered exclusive access to the factory where these exquisite vehicles are crafted. Lovingly hand built to each customer’s exacting specifications, only 500 of the bespoke Baby II models will be produced.

The Bugatti Baby II is available in three versions: Base, Vitesse and Pur Sang. The Pur Sang offers the same powertrain as the Vitesse but with beautiful, hand-formed aluminium bodywork.

Using the same traditional coachbuilding techniques as the original Bugatti Type 35, each aluminium body takes more than two hundred hours of skilled craftsmanship to create.

The Baby II’s performance lives up to the Bugatti name. Offered exclusively in rear-wheel drive, all versions of the Baby II have a fully electric powertrain, high performance hydraulic brakes and selectable driving modes.

The base model comes with two modes; Novice which is limited to 20kph (12mph) and 1kW (1.3bhp) of power, and expert which is limited to 45 kph (30mph) and 4kW (5.4bhp) of power.

The Vitesse and Pur Sang models include the Novice and Expert driving modes, but also offer extra performance from an upgraded powertrain, unlocked by the legendary Bugatti Speed Key. This enables you to deploy up to 10kW (13.4 bhp) and with an all-up weight of just 230kg, achieving a top speed of 70kph (42mph).

Depending on the weight of the driver, 0-60 kph is dispatched in just six seconds.

Peter Davison

Peter Davison is deputy editor of The Business Magazine. He has spent his life in journalism – doing work experience in newsrooms in and around Bristol while still at school, and landing his first job on a local newspaper aged 19. By 28 he was the youngest newspaper editor in the country. An early advocate of online news, he spent the first years of the 2000s telling his bosses that the internet posed both the biggest opportunity and greatest threat to the newspaper industry and the art of journalism. He was right on both counts. Since 2006 he has enjoyed a career as a freelance journalist. He lives in rural Wiltshire with one wife, two children, and three cats.