The Little Car Company – what would you like to see next?
Discussion
Dear PH,
You may have seen pieces on the Bugatti Baby II and Aston Martin DB5 Junior.
I’m the founder of The Little Car Company and a long time fan of PH, and I wanted to try something a little bit different.
As we've launched our models so far it's really hard to know what we did right and what we didn't do so right in terms of the design, the features, the specification and so on. We would love to know what proper enthusiasts think of our little cars, and see if we can find a way to take on feedback to make our current and future cars better via the PH forum. We'd also love to be able to answer any questions on what we do and the models we've made so far.
A big thing is that we'd like to know which models you’d like to see next, ideas for new features and so on. We don’t know if it will work (we may just get a stream of abuse about them being rich playthings), but we thought we’d give it a try. And we will listen to each comment and idea and see what we can do.
Where we are at:
So we have two models currently announced:
- Bugatti Baby II
- Aston Martin DB5 Junior
They were both developed in partnership with Bugatti & Aston Martin, and are both officially recognised as cars by the manufacturers. Each one took us about 18 months to develop and we have tried to include as many authentic elements from the originals as possible. The same suspension geometry as the original Bugatti T35 (so it handles the same), the solid silver Macaron from the Bugatti Chiron, the same badges and clock as the original DB5, Smiths gauges as per the original DB5s and so on.
That does also mean they are not cheap. We are working on making the cars more accessible, both in terms of being able to hire them for a drive at events, and producing lower cost models in the future. As a young (two year old) company we are still learning as we go.
We have more models in the pipeline and we hope to give you some sneak previews here, as well as updates on the development of the existing models.
We aren’t making toys - these are designed to be authentic scale versions of the original cars with as many authentic features as possible. We also can’t call them toys as they use a 48V powertrain and EU rules say that toys (for people under 14) have to be 24V and below. And if when you drive them you see they are properly quick - hence why we have different power modes for different experience levels.
The whole idea of our company is to:
- Bring the classics of the past to a new generation. We know that many of the originals are far too valuable now to hoon about for fun or even put mileage on. Many are sadly hidden away in collections. We want our cars to be used and abused.
- Show that electric vehicles can be fun - one of the bits of feedback we had from journos on test drives was that the Baby II would be much worse with a little petrol lawnmower engine in it.
- Try and give different generations the opportunity to bond over cars - many kids today don’t care about cars like we did when we were younger. This is about the Werthers originals moments, or the Patek Phillippe watch ads - creating something to teach your kids to drive in, and pass down the generations.
We have some internal rules which we try and follow:
- Safety above all else
- They need to be fun for adults and kids (the DB5 has a hydraulic handbrake for no other reason than it would be fun).
- They need to fit an adult and a kid wherever possible (the Baby is a bit tight there - the original Type 35 wasn't a big car)
- Nothing fake - we can repurpose (the fuel pump handle on the Baby II is now the F/N/R for example), but you won’t see any fake exhausts on the car.
- It has to include as many of the original elements of the cars as possible. An authentic tribute to the original. Not a remake, more of a respectful reinterpretation. These are not plastic bodies on a go-kart chassis.
- It has to be supported, endorsed and developed with the original manufacturer as we did with Bugatti and Aston Martin - we want their input to make it as authentic as possible.
So over to you PH: What car would you like to see next from us? From what brand? And what would you like to see on it? Please comment below with your ideas!
Thank you PH.
Ben
DB5 Junior
Bugatti Baby II
You may have seen pieces on the Bugatti Baby II and Aston Martin DB5 Junior.
I’m the founder of The Little Car Company and a long time fan of PH, and I wanted to try something a little bit different.
As we've launched our models so far it's really hard to know what we did right and what we didn't do so right in terms of the design, the features, the specification and so on. We would love to know what proper enthusiasts think of our little cars, and see if we can find a way to take on feedback to make our current and future cars better via the PH forum. We'd also love to be able to answer any questions on what we do and the models we've made so far.
A big thing is that we'd like to know which models you’d like to see next, ideas for new features and so on. We don’t know if it will work (we may just get a stream of abuse about them being rich playthings), but we thought we’d give it a try. And we will listen to each comment and idea and see what we can do.
Where we are at:
So we have two models currently announced:
- Bugatti Baby II
- Aston Martin DB5 Junior
They were both developed in partnership with Bugatti & Aston Martin, and are both officially recognised as cars by the manufacturers. Each one took us about 18 months to develop and we have tried to include as many authentic elements from the originals as possible. The same suspension geometry as the original Bugatti T35 (so it handles the same), the solid silver Macaron from the Bugatti Chiron, the same badges and clock as the original DB5, Smiths gauges as per the original DB5s and so on.
That does also mean they are not cheap. We are working on making the cars more accessible, both in terms of being able to hire them for a drive at events, and producing lower cost models in the future. As a young (two year old) company we are still learning as we go.
We have more models in the pipeline and we hope to give you some sneak previews here, as well as updates on the development of the existing models.
We aren’t making toys - these are designed to be authentic scale versions of the original cars with as many authentic features as possible. We also can’t call them toys as they use a 48V powertrain and EU rules say that toys (for people under 14) have to be 24V and below. And if when you drive them you see they are properly quick - hence why we have different power modes for different experience levels.
The whole idea of our company is to:
- Bring the classics of the past to a new generation. We know that many of the originals are far too valuable now to hoon about for fun or even put mileage on. Many are sadly hidden away in collections. We want our cars to be used and abused.
- Show that electric vehicles can be fun - one of the bits of feedback we had from journos on test drives was that the Baby II would be much worse with a little petrol lawnmower engine in it.
- Try and give different generations the opportunity to bond over cars - many kids today don’t care about cars like we did when we were younger. This is about the Werthers originals moments, or the Patek Phillippe watch ads - creating something to teach your kids to drive in, and pass down the generations.
We have some internal rules which we try and follow:
- Safety above all else
- They need to be fun for adults and kids (the DB5 has a hydraulic handbrake for no other reason than it would be fun).
- They need to fit an adult and a kid wherever possible (the Baby is a bit tight there - the original Type 35 wasn't a big car)
- Nothing fake - we can repurpose (the fuel pump handle on the Baby II is now the F/N/R for example), but you won’t see any fake exhausts on the car.
- It has to include as many of the original elements of the cars as possible. An authentic tribute to the original. Not a remake, more of a respectful reinterpretation. These are not plastic bodies on a go-kart chassis.
- It has to be supported, endorsed and developed with the original manufacturer as we did with Bugatti and Aston Martin - we want their input to make it as authentic as possible.
So over to you PH: What car would you like to see next from us? From what brand? And what would you like to see on it? Please comment below with your ideas!
Thank you PH.
Ben
DB5 Junior
Bugatti Baby II
I assume that the thread has been paid for by the advertiser. It's pretty normal stuff in web journalism. There's an advertorial thread abut the same products in General Gassing, where the advertiser might find more punters amongst the supercar and gigantic watch crowd than amongst people who like cars that have structural tape and holes in the floor.
Breadvan72 said:
Yes, we know. The second post in the thread says that. Why so defensive? PH is a commercial website. Having paid for content is hardly exceptional.
Because someone has already missed it 
This thread hasn't actually been paid for either – we thought it could be quite interesting to see what the community could come up with to help with product development.Ben Lowden said:
Because someone has already missed it This thread hasn't actually been paid for either – we thought it could be quite interesting to see what the community could come up with to help with product development.
Oh so they get free product / product development ideas? This thread hasn't actually been paid for either – we thought it could be quite interesting to see what the community could come up with to help with product development.Have they got a go fund me page we can all donate to as well to help them out?
Ben Lowden said:
Breadvan72 said:
Yes, we know. The second post in the thread says that. Why so defensive? PH is a commercial website. Having paid for content is hardly exceptional.
Because someone has already missed it This thread hasn't actually been paid for either – we thought it could be quite interesting to see what the community could come up with to help with product development.Mark A S said:
Nice working models, can i offer my Tanks here as well 
Just had a look at your website, the tanks look great! Not much to add to the OP, I would have thought an E-Type would follow nicely into your product range. I imagine you'd get Jaguar onboard, they seem to encourage the heritage side of things.
Edited by Cocknose on Tuesday 27th October 10:11
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