'Baby 52' Electric Car, circa 1930

Details

BUGATTI (EST. 1909)
'Baby 52' Electric Car, circa 1930
aluminium, painted steel sheet, leather, electric motor. The dashboard featuring a pressure gauge and inverter, with a shift to the right of the seat
22 ¼ x 76 x 25 ¾ in. (56.5 x 193 x 65.5 cm)
numbered 142
with Bugatti enameled plaque

Provenance

Private Collection, France, 1926
Thence by descent
Christie's, New York, 8 June 2016, lot 24
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Literature

For a period photograph of the model:
M. Haslam, P. Garner, M. Harvey and H. Conway, The Amazing Bugattis, New York, 1979, p. 73
P. Dejean, Carlo - Rembrandt - Ettore - Jean Bugatti, New York, 1982, pp. 257, 260
J.-C. Des Cordes and V. Fromanger Des Cordes, Rembrandt Bugatti: catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1987, p. 321
Bugatti, exh. cat., The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, 1999, pp. 100, fig. 16; 101, fig. 17
P. Demandt and A. Daemgen, Rembrandt Bugatti: The Sculptor 1884-1916, exh. cat., Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, 2014, p. 28
E. Horswell, Rembrandt Bugatti: Life in Sculpture, London, 2016, p. 267

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Daphné Riou SVP, Senior Specialist, Head of Americas

DRiou@christies.com +1 212 468 7124

Lot Essay

Originally designed with a combustion engine for his son Roland, as a half-scale toy modelled closely on the Grand Prix types 35 and 51, Ettore Bugatti decided to put the 'Baby' into production following the success it was met with on the Bugatti stand at the 1927 Milan Automobile Salon. Given a works serial type number '52' and primarily known and marketed as 'Baby', it was produced to 500 numbered units with an electric motor for children between age 6-8years.

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