It somehow seemed fitting if I was going to build multiple Bugatti’s to begin with the first notable car that established Bugatti as a world-class brand, the Model 13 Brescia.  While researching the internet, I found several excellent examples, but I absolutely fell in love with this particular look and styling of this 1924 Brescia Sport-Racing version.

The Model 13 has a long history beginning when Ettore Bugatti first purchased the Molsheim estate in late 1909.  After moving his family there, he started building a modified version of the design he had worked on privately in his basement while still employed working for others.  Dubbed the Type 13, building the new design began early in 1910 and there were only 5 cars produced that year.  As Ettore and his side kick Ernest Friderich started racing their new car, they had a lot of success and orders began picking up.  From what I read, these early sales also included just the frame and motor for the high price of 7,000 marks leaving the customer to hire a coach building company to build out the rest.  In any case, I love the 1924 Sport Racing version shown here.

The beautiful blue color and rich tanned leather look really appealed to me.  I also liked the curvy outline shape of the cockpit in contrast to the straight line featured along the sides on most Model 13’s.  The cockpit curve appeal will enhance the curb appeal in my opinion.  It’s doubtful that awesome finishes as seen in these photos existed back in 1921 when the Brescia came into being.  So I might change my mind at some later date and give it more of a bare metal and dull, patina type finish.  But for now, I’m sticking with this gorgeous blue.  If the vintage cars on display at Pebble Beach can have super shiny million dollar paint jobs, so can my vintage cyclekart.   

The brass radiator and rear gas tank really provide a rich contrast that I really like.  The spare wheel hung off the backside just adds an extra layer of appeal and authenticity of that era when flats were super common.

The wheel fenders also add a statement declaring its vintage heritage.  It will be fun learning the English wheel when building these functional yet artistic fenders. 

All in all, this example is simply a beautiful machine to look at and I am super excited to build a cyclekart that looks very similar to this set of pictures.  Amazingly enough, the real size Bugatti Model 13 dimensions are not too far off from the Stevenson cyclekart dimension rules, so scaling will be less of a problem than on other cars.  My cyclekart will be about 85% scale and maybe hit 50 mph whereas the original Brescia’s were advertised to go at least 70 mph. 

Here’s another amazing fact; the real Brescia’s sell today anywhere from $300k to nearly $1M!  Mine will only cost about $3k to build, look very similar, go nearly as fast, but lack reverse gear, only carry one person, and if I’m lucky, sell for somewhere between $3.5 to $5k.  Oh well, I’m not building this for the money, nor for winning races.  It’s all about learning to build an amazing part of history and sharing it with a wonderful group of people who all have similar interests. 

While the car seen here is my inspiration car, the real inspiration comes from other cyclekart enthusiasts who share their amazing builds and talents!