Automotive

1927 4.5-liter Bentley scale replica children's car heads for sale at Retromobile

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This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams
This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams
This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams
This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams
This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams
This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams
This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams
This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams
This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams
This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams
This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams
This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams
The Pratte Collection auctioned in 2015, and is best known for containing Carroll Shelby’s 800 hp Super Snake Cobra, the 1954 Pontiac Bonneville Concept car and the GM Futurliner, but it also contained one of the largest collection of children's cars ever assembled. More than 70 went to auction and they'll make you drool.
RM-Sothebys
This 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer concept pedal car was originally constructed as a 3/8 scale model for display next to the full size car at General Motors' Motoramas. When the Motoramas were over, the car was destined for destruction until GM designer Harley Earl liberated it and had it converted into an electric car for his grandchildren to play with. It is the only surviving remnant of GM's Club de Mer design. It sold for $33,925.
RM-Sothebys
Ettore Bugatti designed and built a replica of his all-conquering  T35 racing car for his second son Roland in 1926 for his fourth birthday. The response to the tiny electric vehicle at the company headquarters in Molsheim was so overwhelmingly positive that the decision was made to sell the car to the public, with the Bugatti Bebe debuting at the 1927 Milan Automobile Show. Around 500 copies were produced between 1927 and 1937 and 100 remain intact in the hands of private owners and museums. Two are exhibited permanently at the Cité de l'Automobile — Musée National — Collection Schlumpf in Mulhouse, France. Full story
Bugatti
At 5,000 francs (around US$250 in 1926), there weren't a lot of parents able to spend the price of a car on their seven year old. The Bebe became an immediate favorite with the children of royalty, the rich and the famous, and the enduring image of twenties excess was a child accompanying his parents on a stroll in his 5,000 franc toy. There were races held for the Bugatti Bebe in French holiday resorts such as Deauville and St Tropez. These days, the Bebe sells for $70,000 and upwards. Full story
Bonhams
At 5,000 francs (around US$250 in 1926), there weren't a lot of parents able to spend the price of a car on their seven year old. The Bebe became an immediate favorite with the children of royalty, the rich and the famous, and the enduring image of twenties excess was a child accompanying his parents on a stroll in his 5,000 franc toy. There were races held for the Bugatti Bebe in French holiday resorts such as Deauville and St Tropez. These days, the Bebe sells for $70,000 and upwards. Full story
Bonhams
This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams
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There have been many fabulous children's cars we have chronicled over the last few years, such as the Shelby 427 Cobra and Jaguar XK 120 replica children's cars (US$40,800 each), the Harley-Earl-designed General Motors Club de Mer miniature concept car ($33,925), and several Bugatti Bebes, the T35 replica that became a cult toy of the rich and famous.

In Paris last year, a Bugatti Bebe sold for $99,000 at the official Retromobile sale, though still well shy of the $110,000 record set by Gooding & Company at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance auction.

At 5,000 francs (around US$250 in 1926), there weren't a lot of parents able to spend the price of a car on their seven year old. The Bebe became an immediate favorite with the children of royalty, the rich and the famous, and the enduring image of twenties excess was a child accompanying his parents on a stroll in his 5,000 franc toy. There were races held for the Bugatti Bebe in French holiday resorts such as Deauville and St Tropez. These days, the Bebe sells for $70,000 and upwards. Full story
Bonhams

While there are no Bugatti Bebes going to auction at Retromobile in Paris this year, there is a miniature replica of a mid-1920s Bentley 4½-Liter racer which could potentially move into the upper echelons of children's car auction prices.

This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams

The car is a scaled-down replica of one of the great vintage-era sports cars, the Bentley 4½-Liter. Driven by Woolf Barnatoand Bernard Rubin, the 4½-liter won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1928, helping the famous mark to four consecutive wins from 1927-1930.

This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams

In 2017, a German enthusiast constructed this 2/3 scale replica, and although a three meter length might seem large for children's car, the real 1920s Bentley 4½-liter is huge at 4.38 meters (172.4 in) in length.

As can be seen from the bare aluminum, the replica is hand built, and although the motive power is limited to a 9 hp, air-and-oil cooled petrol engine, it's enough to propel the family heir to 55 km/h and that's probably sufficient.

This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams

The semi-automatic gearbox has three speeds plus reverse, steering is by rack-and-pinion and that's a working speedometer.

The seat and interior are upholstered in leather, the car has an electric starter, two batteries and all the lights work.

This hand-made 1920s Bentley 4½-Liter Replica Children's Car is to be auctioned at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction sale on February 8, 2018 and is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000
Bonhams

Most startling of all, the car is estimated to sell for between €5,000 and €7,000 at Bonhams' Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais auction later this week.

We suspect it will sell for considerably more than that, given the prices we saw for children's cars in Scottsdale two weeks ago and the strength of the market for similar enfant exotica in Paris last year, but it will pay to register if you are in the marketplace for a lavish present for the "works replica," as auctioneers know the market better than anyone.

Source: Bonhams

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1 comment
Lardo
Being a fairly new build, I'm thinking this might actually be a "Cycle Kart" (http://cyclekarts.com/CycleKartGallery.html) rather than a kid's car.