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. 

Stunning. Yes, that will do nicely. Stunning, in black.

The subject of this adoration is this extremely rare hand-built limited-edition piece from the studio of Carlo Brianza / A.B.C. Brianza in Italy; a 1:16 model of the one-off 1930 Mercedes-Benz SSK built for Count Carlo Felice Trossi.

Sharp Swords

Espada is Spanish for “Sword”, and the creased, crisp styling of the so-named Lamborghini car made a strong case for such an edgy moniker on this Marcello Gandini (for Bertone) design.

World Class

It’s fashionable right about now to cast stones at The General, but there’s no denying that one of the cars that GM got right - way right - is the Cadillac CTS. Now in its second, equally successful generation, the car’s become a flagship for all that still bodes well for Detroit.

“Rodder’s Journal”

Back when we were planning to launch this magazine, we cruised over to the local mega newsstand to get some inspirational reading. One publication that completely knocked us out was The Rodder’s Journal, a magnificent periodical that’s as devoted to real hot rodding (and the lavish photography and celebration of these works of art) as we are to scale models. So I was happy to get this first release from GMP’s new “Real Steel” series, since it’s dedicated to TRJ - and because it happens to be cool looking as all heck.

Just Desserts

CMC’s riotously good Ferrari 250 SWB Berlinetta is something of a classic among 1:18 model car collectors. That has something to do with familiarity; even the staunchest American muscle collector has a soft spot for the real SWB’s shape, vicious performance, and legendary exhaust note. But it sure doesn’t hurt that CMC did a hell of a job bringing both the countenance and the content of the nearly-priceless Ferrari out in grand style.

Peter Brock had it all figured out in late 1966. He’d just penned a deal with Toyota to develop its sleek 2000GT as a race car, and had set up shop to do the necessary work almost as soon as he’d touched down from Japan. One minor problem - the cars never showed. It took a clandestine call from a friend to clue Brock in: he’d been one-upped by his old boss, Carroll Shelby, who had persuaded Toyota to give him the deal, instead.