Since a $145,445 Ferrari 330 P2 Junior claimed the World record price for a children’s car at auction in February 2021, the prices of luxury children’s cars have been surging, culminating in Paris last week when RM Sotheby’s sold a Ferrari Testa Rossa J that pushed the record to new heights at $243,864 – just shy of a quarter million United States dollars.
Apart from the spectacular growth of functional scaled children’s cars as a concours class, the finest specimens continue to appreciate in value at a rate that qualifies them as an emerging asset class … with benefits.
Exquisitely crafted children’s cars have been popular with the world’s elite rich for exactly one century. On 23 August 1926, Ettore Bugatti’s youngest son Roland turned four years-of-age and was presented with a half-scale replica of Bugatti’s globally dominant T35 racing car.
“Le Patron” (“The Boss” or “The Master” in English) had been designing and building Bugattis capable of winning major races since circuit racing first began, and to this day, the T35 is generally regarded as the world’s most successful racing car with over 2,000 wins “in period” to its credit.
Bugatti
The media broadcast the photos to the world, and quite soon the world’s royalty and captains of industry were queuing up at Bugatti’s Molsheim headquarters to procure their own scaled-down works replicas for their privileged offspring.
Demand was so great that the car soon went into production and approximately 500 units were eventually built between 1926 and 1935, offering many toddlers their very first driving experience. Many of those children would grow up to become players on the world stage.
Various
There are a number of factors driving the resurgence of children’s cars, most notably the emergence of a Children’s Car class at the world-renowned Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace in 2020, and the subsequent addition of a Children’s Car classes in several other notable concours events, the latest being added to the forthcoming Concours of Elegance Germany on 4 & 5 July 2026.
The Little Big Mans race debuted in 2008 at the fourth edition of the Le Mans Classic. This event, designed for children aged 7 to 12 driving miniature cars, has become a regular feature at the Le Mans Classic, showcasing scaled-down, iconic Le Mans race cars.
There are already many stories out there of beautiful childhood gifts blossoming in value enough to pay for a first-class education but before we start talking numbers, be warned that we’ve never seen a marketplace as erratic as this.
Look at the estimates or “official guidance” figures we’ve published alongside the record holders and you’ll see that only one of the cars that have held the world auction record was originally expected to set such a record, and in researching this article, we’ve seen many cars sell for peanuts that would not be out of place among the top 40 children’s car prices.
We’re working on an article that will highlight just how many bargains seem to be slipping through at auction because the wrong auction audience has been chosen.
$110,000 | 1926 Bugatti Type 52 Short-Nose “Baby Bugatti”
Auctioneer: Gooding & Company (now Gooding Christie’s) Pebble Beach 2008
Date: Saturday, 16 August 2008
Estimate: $40,000 – $60,000
This car was chassis #11, built 100 years ago at the dawn of the kiddie car industry, and in addition to being one of the very first, it comes with spectacular provenance. It was once owned by Briggs Cunningham, American entrepreneur, sportsman, winning America’s Cup skipper, racing driver, race team owner, and winning constructor in sports car racing.
Artcurial
It’s not all that long ago that the most valuable cars in this class were all original Bugatti Babys that emanated from Bugatti’s Molsheim factory, but the world is changing fast, and the rare bonsai T35 that was once the cherry on top of many a collection, has been usurped by exquisite scaled replica cars from Hedley Studios (nee The Little Car Company), which cost more than this from the showroom floor.
It’s also not all that long ago that original Baby Bugattis could be purchased very cheaply. There were some exceptionally reasonable prices fetched for what appear to be genuine items during the 2005-2015 time frame: Bonhams sold one for $5,447 in 2004; $5,534 by Bonhams in 2013; $6,469 at H&H in 2018; $8,625 by RM Sothebys in 2007; $14,950 by RM Sothebys in 2015; $16,993 at Christies in 2002; and $21,250 at Bonhams in 2014.
$126,500 | Ferrari 180 Testa Rossa Children’s Car
RM Sotheby’s
Auctioneer: RM Sotheby’s
Date: Thursday 21 November 2013
Estimate: €120,000 – €160,000
In November 2013, RM Auctions (now RM-Sotheby’s) sold what was then the world’s most expensive children’s car at its annual December sale in New York. Produced by Modena Ferrarina Italia, the ½ scale Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa replica sold for $126,500. The electric-powered Testa Rossa replica has a handmade steel bodywork and was distributed in-period by the American Ferrari distributor, Luigi Chinetti Motors. It is believed that twenty-five Testa Rossa replicas were built, with fewer than five remaining worldwide. This car was previously owned by renowned Ferrari collector Kirk F. White, who had it restored to the same standards as his concours-winning full-sized Ferraris.
$145,445 (€120,000) | Ferrari 330 P2 Junior by De La Chapelle
RM-Sotheby’s
Auctioneer: RM Sotheby’s
Our report at the time of sale
Date: Saturday 13 February 2021
Estimate: €5,000 – €10,000
Founded in France in the 1970s by a family descendant and former Venturi director who started building Bugatti replicas, De La Chapelle was an independent manufacturer of motor cars.
The company was known primarily for making a variety of replica cars powered by BMW, Peugeot, and Mercedes-Benz engines. In addition to this, the company also produced a variety of gasoline-powered “Junior” replicas. These proved to be highly successful for the company, so much so that BMW itself twice requested a limited series of 328s.
$156,250 | 1985 Maserati 250F by Allegretti
Auctioneer: Gooding & Company (now Gooding Christie’s
Date: Friday 13 August 2021
Estimate: $30,000 – $40,000
Half-Scale recreation of Juan Manuel Fangio’s Maserati 250F World Championship Car.
$210,000 | 2023 Bugatti Baby II
Auctioneer: Gooding Christies
Date: Friday 18 August 2023
Estimate: $100,000 – $120,000
$243,864 (€204,000) | Ferrari Testa Rossa J by Hedley Studios
Auctioneer: RM Sotheby’s
Date: Wednesday 28 January 2026
Estimate: €120,000 – €160,000
