On a beautiful sunny day at 25 degrees the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport achieved a new landspeed world record for production cars, on the proving grounds of the Volkswagen Group at Ehra-Lessien (nearby its headquarters at Wolfsburg). In the presence of the German Technical Inspection Agency (TÜV) and a representative of Guinness Book of Records the Super Sport achieved an average top speed of 431 km/h.

Saturday, 2 pm – Bugatti’s Pilote Officiel Pierre Henri Raphanel puts his helmet and gloves on, pulls the safety belts tight whilst the engineers check the car a very last time: tyre pressure, temperature, all systems green. Then the orange black Super Sport crosses the light barrier, from now on the time will be taken, within one hour the car has to drive from South to North and then in the opposite direction. No one but the driver is allowed to touch the car during this time. The tension rises. A few minutes later we can hear from the left side the sound of a starting jumbo jet coming closer towards us. First we perceive the headlights of the Veyron, then we can recognize the shape of the car, a loud wooosh…. and Raphanel dashes in top speed past us. The GPS-tachometer stops at 427, 933 km/h. Now the same procedure from the opposite direction. This time the car reaches 434, 211 km/h. As average top speed the representatives of the “TÜV”and Guinness generate a value of 431, 072 km/h (268 mph). This hit even Bugatti’s engineering team by surprise.

“We took it that we would reach an average value of 425 km/h,” explains Bugatti’s chief engineer Dr. Wolfgang Schreiber, “but the conditions today were perfect and allowed even more.

The climax of the Veyron series: the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport

Had a model been especially popular or highly successful in races, Ettore Bugatti’s customers often pushed the master to tease out of the engine a few horsepower more for their future car. Bugatti Automobiles SAS had been in a similar situation when their existing customers asked the company to not only design their second model optically differently but to also create a version with a sportier and more extreme driving experience. The result is a car with a uniquely high performance of 1,200-hp (882 kW) offering experienced drivers a whole new dimension of excitement, with a maximum torque of 1,500 Newton metres and a limited top speed of 415 km/h (to protect the tyres), but the technique of the Super Sport is identical to the record car. The first five Super Sports to come off the production line will constitute a special series of their own, with the same configuration as the landspeed record car.

The Super Sport is a consequent further development of the classic exclusive 1,001-hp Bugatti Veyron 16.4, launched in 2005. This model offers a stunning set of specifications, such as the twin clutch gearbox with seven speeds, the extraordinarily precise driving performance in bends and excellent stability when braking and accelerating.

Continuous work in extreme performance ranges lead to constantly new conclusions, which enabled the engineers at Bugatti to develop the Veyron into a direction in which the driver can reach new dimensions. Every modification is designed to produce an even more powerful car for an agile ride. Four enlarged turbochargers and bigger intercoolers have been used to boost the power of the 16-cylinder engine, and the chassis has been extensively redesigned to maintain safety at extreme speed – thanks to slightly raised main-spring travel, stronger stabilisers, and new shock absorbers with a complex architecture originally developed for racing cars. This gives noticeably more precise control of the wheels and the car as a whole. With lateral acceleration of up to 1.4 G and improved interaction between the tyres and the intelligent all-wheel drive system, the Super Sport offers perfect handling and even more powerful acceleration of 1,500 Newton metres on corner exits.

The body has been fine-tuned to improve aerodynamic efficiency and maintain perfect balance in every situation, while the new fibre structure of the all-carbon monocoque ensures maximum torsion rigidity and passive safety – at reduced weight. The skin is made entirely of carbon-fibre composites, and the new Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport is available in 100 per-cent clear-lacquered exposed carbon on request.

Dynamic exterior

Every detail of this car, and not just its use of advanced motorsport technology, harks back to the pioneering spirit of company founder Ettore Bugatti. This brilliant designer came from a family of artists, and his philosophy was always to combine mechanical perfection and exterior beauty. This ethos remains alive and well at the company, and the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport is wholly unmistakeable, with every external modification serving to coax greater performance from the car.

The Super Sport’s flat, elongated silhouette is immediately recognisable. The 16-cylinder engine gets its air from two NACA ducts set into the roof, rather than from scoops above the engine. The front air intakes have been expanded and reshaped, with the lower one extending elegantly around the sides to the wheel arch. The revised back looks sportier due to the double diffuser and a centrally arranged exhaust system.

Bugatti has a tradition of making super-sport versions of successful models, usually with racing chassis and supercharged engines. These cars were considered as true racing machines for diehard Bugatti devotees. The most successful were the type 55 and type 57S; only around forty of each were built.

Bugatti Automobiles has sold 260 Veyron and 35 Grand Sport by now, of which 249 Veyron and 22 Grand Sport had been delivered. The Super Sport will begin production this autumn at Molsheim along with the Veyron and the Grand Sport. The first five cars – known as the World Record Edition – are in a special black exposed carbon and orange finish and have already been sold.

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport will appear for the first time in public in California at the Pebble Beach Concours week end in mid August and will feature at Quail Meadow, Laguna Seca and on the concept lawn of the Pebble Beach Concours.

Related articles ...

• BUGATTI STARS IN BCA FAST & FURIOUS SALE
• F1 BUGATTI FOR JENSON BUTTON

A Bugatti Veyron, one of the world’s most desirable supercars, will feature in a massive ‘Fast and Furious’ sale of 350 sports cars, coupes, performance vehicles, motorcycles and convertibles at BCA Blackbushe near Camberley in Surrey on Saturday 5^th June. 

The cars have been entered for sale by Lex Autolease and Black Horse and represent one of the most valuable sales of contemporary vehicles ever staged in the UK.  Lex Autolease and Black Horse have worked closely in partnership with BCA to bring together a truly exceptional selection of vehicles for this event.

The undoubted star of the Fast & Furious sale is the 2006 Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 – just 300 Veyrons were produced by the famed French manufacturer. 

The Veyron is powered by an eight-litre petrol engine that can reach an alleged 253.5 mph and is the quickest accelerating and decelerating road car in the world.  It has a computer-controlled automatic dual-clutch direct-shift gearbox with seven gears and magnesium paddles behind the steering wheel with a shift time of less than 150 milliseconds.  This example is finished in dark blue metallic over silver metallic and has covered just 7,341 kms from when it was registered on 4^th July 2006.

Robert Sturley, Lex Autolease Area Auction Manager (South) said “We have worked very closely with BCA to bring together a truly exceptional collection of vehicles to feature in the ‘Fast and Furious’ sale.  The Veyron may be the star of the show, but there are many other superb high performance cars on offer to tempt bidders.  We are confident that BCA will pull out all the stops to generate buying power for this event and we are looking forward to a very successful sale.”

BCA is marketing the car world-wide via its Live Online internet bidding system and is expecting potential buyers from Europe, the USA, Japan and the Middle-East to be interested as well as UK-based bidders. 

While the Veyron is the undisputed star of the Fast & Furious sale, there are plenty of other exotic and performance vehicles to tempt bidders.  The sale also features a 2005 Ferrari F430 F1 Coupe, a 2007-registered Aston Martin DB9 V12 Coupe and a 2004 Maserati 4200 Cambiocorsa Coupe, as well as six Harley-Davidson Motorcycles amongst an entry of 350 vehicles direct from Lex Autolease and Black Horse.

Alan Gupwell Account Manager BCA added “We have already taken many enquiries about the Bugatti Veyron as they rarely come onto the market. The Lex Autolease and Black Horse brand names have a strong following at BCA and this spectacular event is sure to generate a lot of interest.” 

The sale is open to everyone and commences at 10.30 am on Saturday, 5 June.  The Supercar section will be at approximately 2.00 pm.

BCA Blackbushe is on the A30 between Camberley and Basingstoke, with easy access via J4A of the M3.

Related articles ...

• LANDSPEED WORLD RECORD WITH THE BUGATTI VEYRON SUPER SPORT
• F1 BUGATTI FOR JENSON BUTTON

The world’s most expensive Bugatti Veyron, complete with F1 number plate, will be a star attraction at this year’s MPH Show featuring Top Gear Live at London’s Earls Court between 5-8 November.

If ever the phrase ‘if you need to ask the price, you can’t afford it’ was appropriate it’s now. But at the right price the car could be up for sale, according to owner Afzal Kahn.

He’s hoping his soft white 253mph supercar could be the perfect choice for newly crowned Formula One champion Jenson Button since it features the most expensive number plate sold in the UK.

Capable of catapulting the driver to 100mph in 5.5 seconds this particular 1,010 BHP Bugatti Veyron has no close modern rivals in terms of price tags. But show goers can be sure, if rivals exist, they’ll all be at MPH The Prestige and Performance Motor Show.

Already the ultra rare GTbyCITROËN, worth over £1 million, is scheduled to appear at the show alongside fire-breathing examples from Pagani and Koenigsegg. Rumours about the Ferrari FXX, Lamborghini GT600 and Pagani Zonda R making an appearance are also widespread.

Related articles ...

• LANDSPEED WORLD RECORD WITH THE BUGATTI VEYRON SUPER SPORT
• BUGATTI STARS IN BCA FAST & FURIOUS SALE

As the climax of its centenary celebration ceremonies, Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. presented customers and opinion-makers with the Bugatti 16 C Galibier concept, intended to be the most exclusive, elegant, and powerful four door automobile in the world last weekend in Molsheim. At the historic site where Ettore Bugatti once laid the cornerstone of his company, Bugatti’s current president, Dr. Ing. Franz-Josef Paefgen emphasised that the Galibier is one of several concept studies with which the company is considering for the future of the Bugatti marque.

Art – Forme – Technique: those are the brand values to which Ettore Bugatti and his son Jean oriented themselves in order to develop even more powerful engines and even more noble body designs for each new model, which were without equal in quality, handling, speed and elegance. In the process, they experimented again and again without compromise with new materials; thus was Bugatti one of the first manufacturers to use aluminium parts for bodies, engine blocks and wheels.

Art – Forme – Technique are also the brand values to which the design and engineering team of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. oriented themselves in the development of the Galibier. With this new four-door concept car, Bugatti assumes anew a leading role in the use of new material combinations. Thus the body is constructed of handmade carbon fibre parts coloured dark blue so that, when illuminated, the woven structure shimmers through strikingly. Carbon fibre not only possesses unusually great rigidity but is also especially light. The wings and doors are out of polished aluminium.

The Galibier’s design masters the challenge of uniting sportiness with the comfort and elegance of a modern four-door saloon. The basic architecture picks up on the torpedo-like character of the Type 35, which was already revived in the Veyron, and reinterprets it. With the typical Bugatti radiator grille, big round LED headlights and the clamshell running the length of the vehicle which became synonymous with the brand identity under Jean Bugatti in the Type 57, this car transports the Bugatti genes into the modern worldBeneath the bonnet, which folds back from both sides, there resides a 16-cylinder, 8-litre engine with twostage supercharging. What makes this engine special is that it was developed as a flex-fuel engine and can optional be run on ethanol. Four-wheel drive, specially developed ceramic brakes and a new suspension design enable the agile, always-sure handling of a saloon of this size.

The interior reflects the elemental design of the exterior. The dash panel has been reduced to the essential; two centrally located main instruments keep even the rear passengers constantly informed of the actual speed and previous performance. Parmigiani, the Swiss maker of fine watches, created the removable Reverso Tourbillon clock for the Galibier, which may be worn on the wrist thanks to a cleverly designed leather strap.

‘Galibier’ is not just the name of one of the most difficult alpine passes along the Tour de France but, in its time, was a version of the four door Type 57 unequalled in sportiness and elegance.”

(Via .)

Related articles ...

• LANDSPEED WORLD RECORD WITH THE BUGATTI VEYRON SUPER SPORT
• BUGATTI STARS IN BCA FAST & FURIOUS SALE