1931 - Bugatti Royale on 2040-cars

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At St. Moritz, the Ferraris and Bugattis are small wonders

The Little Car Company is once again taking to glitzy St. Moritz in the Alps to show off an array of scaled-down automotive classics that will include a Bugatti Baby II, Ferrari Testa Rossa J (for junior) in both base and Pacco Gara models, and an Aston Martin DB5 Junior. The elegant, electrified miniatures, all available for test drives, will be assembled at the upcoming International Concours of Elegance at St. Moritz this Friday and Saturday to entertain the rich and famous, and others perhaps not so well positioned. The Little Car Company is a U.K.-based firm that has re-created everything from a pint-sized Bugatti Type 35 to a life-sized dune buggy based on a Tamiya R/C kit from the 1980s. Their cars run on electric power. Other models are put on static display, and one of those at St. Moritz is to be its newly launched Bentley Blower Jnr. "A step into new territory for the brand," the company says, the Blower Jnr is an 85 percent scale electric version of the British manufacturer's legendary original, and is The Little Car Company’s first road-legal automobile. Said CEO Ben Hedley, "This year will be the third time that we have participated in this wonderful event, so it is only right that we bring even more unique pieces for guests to get behind the wheel of, but also that we bring something new for guests to look at: the Bentley Blower Jnr." Operating for about five years, the Little Car Company hand-builds licensed products in entertaining partnerships with some elite manufacturers. Its cars are aimed mainly at collectors but can be driven. Among its recent offerings, the Testa Rossa was launched in 2021 as a 3/4-scale replica of the legendary "red head,” powered by a 12kW battery and able to reach a top speed of 47 mph, Little Car Company planned to build only 299 examples of the Testa Rossa. One of them was on display at Harrods in London just before Christmas, priced at just about $100,000. A terrific gift, but youÂ’ll need a bigger tree.   Featured Gallery The Little Car Company at St Moritz Design/Style Aston Martin Bentley Bugatti Ferrari Electric

Bugatti fully restores the first Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport prototype

Bugatti proved a car doesn't need wire wheels and a carburetor to be considered a classic by restoring an important part of its recent heritage. It purchased and renovated the first Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport prototype from 2008. Finished in white silver metallic with a cognac leather interior, the topless hypercar was presented to enthusiasts at the 2008 edition of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. It joined the Bugatti fleet after its champagne-soaked debut and became an unregistered demo car that logged miles in Europe, the Middle East, and North America. It then presumably ended up in private hands, and it largely fell off the radar until Bugatti spotted it in 2020. "Following the official confirmation of the car's status as an important historic model and the prototype that helped launch the Veyron Grand Sport in 2008, the car rapidly attracted attention from a number of captivated collectors, and it was acquired almost immediately," explained Luigi Galli, the man in charge of La Maison Pur Sang, Bugatti's in-house restoration and certification program. He added the firm keeps details about past models in its archives. Back in Molsheim, the picturesque French town where Bugatti's headquarters are located, the Veyron underwent a four-month restoration that brought it back to its 2008 configuration. The body panels were removed and repainted, the cabin was completely refurbished with leather upholstery and aluminum trim pieces, and a new center console was installed. There's no word on whether the quad-turbocharged 16-cylinder engine required an overhaul as well. Bugatti's in-house restoration expertise extends far beyond relatively new cars like a Veyron. It has access to a wide range of documents, blueprints, period photos, and experts that can help it piece together a car's history, regardless of whether it's a 13-year old prototype or a dismantled 100-year old race car stashed in a barn since the 1980s. Related video:

How to make Ettore Bugatti's favorite Christmas desserts

Ettore Bugatti's love for cars spawned the automaker that bears his name, but that's not the only passion that he turned into a business. He channeled his love for food into a restaurant called Clos Saint Odile in Obernai, a small town in the Alsatian countryside located not far from the Bugatti factory in Molsheim. It still exists, it's now called La Fourchette des Ducs, and it still makes some of Bugatti's favorites dishes. In 2020, Bugatti taught hungry enthusiasts how to cook a Christmas dinner like its founder; he served minestrone, blazed duck breast with truffle puree and cassis sauce, and strawberry gratin. In 2021, the French company is zooming in on desserts. La Fourchette des Ducs offers customers a cart with 15 desserts around the holidays, including one called Tarte Obernoise that Bugatti served at his wedding. The full recipe is posted on Bugatti's media site. It looks relatively simple: making the dough requires flour, sugar, butter, egg yolks, milk, and baking powder, while the filling consists of raspberry jam, egg whites, powdered sugar, and almond powder. It's more time-consuming than, say, opening a box of cake mix because the dough needs to rest for two hours, but at the end you'll be able to say that you made meringue.  If you're feeling ambitious or extra-hungry, Bugatti also provided the restaurant's recipe for hazelnut Kipferle (a croissant-shaped cookie). Making a batch is well within the average cook's reach. You'll need sugar, butter, sifted flour, hazelnut powder, vanilla pods, and cinnamon. If you're more interested in cars than food, you're out of luck: Bugatti hasn't shared how to assemble the Chiron's W16 engine.