How far we’ve come in 50 years. This child’s electric car was once advertised as the “exact miniature of the world-famous $17,000 sports car.” Now it will cost you as much as the real thing did.
But the real treasure is in the advertisement. It’s not the Bambino Racer as titled in the Hemmings ad, it’s the Bimbo Racer. At what point in our society did the word “bimbo” go from describing a small child to a whore?
Built by S.I.L.A. in Turin, Italy and styled by the famous Italian auto designer Giovanni Michelotti, these wonderful child’s cars were based on the open Ferrari spyder of the day, with a shapely sculpted fiberglass body, electric motor, and working lights – what more could a kid ask for? These are fun child’s vintage sports cars in the same class as the Baby Bugatti of the 1920’s. Many of these ended up in the families of prominent people, and it’s believed that Dwight D. Eisenhower’s grandchildren had them! Imported into the USA by Ferrari, Inc. of San Francisco. Period advertising in this country proclaimed them as ‘A Real Car – for pre-teen men and women of distinction’.
These are exceptionally rare and hard to find. The most recent car that we found was featured on Discovery HD Theater’s “Chasing Classic Cars,” hosted by Wayne Carini, Season 2, Episode 6. That same car, owned by Wayne Carini, was sold in 2009 at Bonham’s Exceptional Motorcars and Automobilia at Quail Lodge Resort and Golf Club, Carmel, CA. It sold for $17,843.00, plus buyers and sellers commissions – at the height of the recession. This is the only known complete and restored Baby Ferrari Bimbo Racer V12 known to be on the market in the world at this time.
VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS:
Two-passenger (children) open roadster.
Fiberglass body.
Full leather interior and seat.
Fitted rubber floor mat.
Footpedal brakes and accelerator, hand brake.
Electric motor with rear-wheel chain drive.
Three forward gears.
12-volt battery with charging system.
Full range steering.
Full front & rear suspension, springs.
Rubber pneumatic tires with Siata wire wheel covers.
Four-wheel brakes.
Electric sealed-beam headlights.
Electric single tail-light.
Italian-style sports horn.
Full trim and badging.
PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS:
Maximum Speed – 7-mph.
Maximum Range – 35-miles.
Endurance – 5 to 7 hours.
Maximum Grade – 20%
Full-stop from Max. Speed – 10-feet.
It will seat two children that are about Kindergarten to 2nd Grade sized, and the car is nearly six-feel long (see yardstick in some photos for scale, and size of children in vintage ad photo). This car will be professionally crated for shipping. We can assist in arranging shipping to anywhere in the world.
NOTE: This is an operating electric children’s car that should only be used and driven by a child of appropriate size and ability, under close adult supervision after careful training. Buyer assumes all risk and responsibility for its use and operation, and Brighton Motorsports assumes no liability whatsoever for its use or misuse. All sales are final. Sold “As is” with a Bill of Sale.”
Leave a Reply