They Never Come Out at Night:
Bauer’s 1:18 Bugatti Type 41 Royale “Esders”

If you’re ever seeking a good kick in the pants, stroll into the Schlumpf Museum in Mulhouse, France, locate the Bugatti Type 41 Royale “Esders” roadster, and pronounce to the throngs of adoring Bugattiste that the car isn’t a “real” Royale. You may or may not actually get punted, but you can count on being shown l’épaule froide. That’s “the cold shoulder” - and the reason for the treatment goes back to the pride and passion of the Schlumpf brothers.

First, the prelude: The original design for the Esders roadster was penned by Jean Bugatti and built for one obviously wealthy Dr. Armand Esders, on the second of six Type 41 “Royale” chassis to emerge from Ettore Bugatti’s factory. 

Maxi Mini

From the July / August 2010 issue of The Car Room Magazine

The British Motor Corporation first produced the Mini in 1959. Through the magic of badge engineering it came in two versions, the Austin Seven and the Morris Mini Minor. For a time, after 1969, the car was simply known as the Mini

Rocking in Resin

Ferrari’s ground-breaking engineer Carlo Chiti brought the science of using scale models in a controlled environment to Maranello in the late 1950’s. Red Line models (www.redline-model.com, distributed in America by Minichamps, NA, www.minichampsna.com) has brought the science of high-tech modeling to render the results in 1:24.

Wow. Wee

You’d do well to keep a magnifying loupe handy when considering either of Spark Models’ 1:87 Bentleys; one is a GT coupe, and the other a GTC convertible. Each stretches only to just over two inches in length, but the little resin babies both feature full interiors, slick paint, and amazing photo-etched grilles and markings.

Welcome To Smallville

The phrase “high detail” usually doesn’t apply to 1:64, especially when talking about mass produced models. At least, it traditionally hasn’t, until now.

Cheetah!

Here’s a model I’ve only seen made twice before; once in 1:43 scale as an excellent, high end limited edition hand built (and kit) by Marsh Models - and once by Mini Exotics as a 1:24th kit which was somewhat less than good.

Spark’s been busy, as usual. This model replicates the beloved racecar as driven by Ralph Salyer at Road America in 1964; somewhere between 11 and 16 Cheetah’s in total were built, and only one was a roadster - though it didn’t start life that way. The Cro-Sal Special was a conversion from a coupe, done by Gene Crowe and Ralph Salyer, the car’s mechanic and owner; hence the Cro-Sal name. This was also the most successful of all Cheetahs, and it won many races.