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Some five years ago, Mogens Lauritzen of Los Altos saw a picture of a
"baby" Bugatti auto in the San Jose Mercury News. In the 1910s and 20s,
they were driven by children of wealthy Parisians. Then he heard about
one that was sold at Christie's. He found a photo of the young prince
of Morocco bundled up in his "baby" Bugatti. Lauritzen was intrigued,
and he dreamed of building a "baby" Bugatti of his own - not of metal,
but of wood and aluminum. The results of that dream were unveiled when
his "baby" Bugatti took to the streets of Los Altos chauffeuring the
family chicken in this year's pet parade. Lauritzen, an engineer
specializing in computer chips, spent two years working on the plans
and another two years in construction. "My mother-in-law, a research
librarian, found original drawings. From these, I made my own drawings
for a wood-based design with some aluminum and steel," he said.
Next, Lauritzen scoured junk yards, metal recyclers and the Internet
looking for the necessary pieces. "How to put the steering box together
was the hardest thing to figure out," he said. "It's partly oak wood
and part commercial gears from Boston Gears. The motor is a 1/10
horsepower windshield wiper motor from a bus from my father's bus
company in Denmark." Lauritzen's project took up half his
garage. He got a mill to grind his own pieces. His children, Bjorn and
Hanna, now 6 and 4, started working beside him drilling holes and
tightening bolts. Eventually, they had their own smaller work bench.
"They both are good drivers." Lauritzen said. There's still a
little fine tuning to be done, like adding a reverse capability.
Lauritzen also has a 1/3 horsepower engine, but will wait to install
that until his children are older. Now his dream is that other Los
Altans will be bitten by the "baby " Bugatti bug. Watch for the next Los Altos appearance of the "baby" Bugatti at this year's Festival of Lights Parade.
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