At this point, it almost seems as if the Bugatti Veyron has existed forever, a de facto exemplar of mind-warping engineering that just simply is and always has been, rather than an engineering moonshot taken at the behest of one Ferdinand Piëch, a man who's no stranger to moon-age daydreams made metal. After the Veyron, he commissioned the equally uncompromising Volkswagen XL1. Before it, he'd helmed Porsche's 917 program, earning Zuffenhausen its first overall Le Mans win and eventual utter dominance over the North American Can-Am series. Out of the gate, the Veyron laid claim to a 253-mph top speed.
The most powerful version of the 917, the all-conquering 917/30, managed 240.6 on the straightaway at Talladega with the late Mark Donohue at the helm. Our own Csaba Csere went to VW's Ehra-Lessien test facility and managed to hit Vmax in the Bugatti. If Csere had been so inclined, afterward, the Bug could've been driven to 7-Eleven for a Slurpee. Try that in a Can-Am car. And while Veyrons will surely exist until this planet is swallowed up by the sun, there will be no more of them after this one, the 450th and final car in the series. Set to go on display alongside Veyron chassis number 001 at this week's Geneva motor show, this Grand Sport Vitesse is simply called "La Finale."
For the final car, the French VW unit wanted to pay homage to the first Veyron. La Finale's owner had a few ideas of his own. The most blatant visual trick was flipping the color scheme from the original. While car number 1 featured a predominantly black body with red fenders and doors, La Finale is awash in red carbon fiber. Bugatti points out that this is the first time this color has ever been used on a vehicle. Because garishness often counts when it comes to Veyrons—the semi-psychedelic, porcelain-accented L'Or Blanc comes to mind—La Finale has its name scrawled in Italian Red cursive below the passenger-side headlamp.
Inside, like the first Veyron, La Finale features "Silk"-colored beige leather. La Finale complicates and adds loudness by mixing in "Hot Spur" red hides, which bring the exterior Mansory-grade madness into the cabin. The exterior's red carbon also makes an appearance in the interior. As does a blackened bronze elephant. And just in case you forgot where you were, "La Finale" is embroidered into the headrests. All the better to wick the Brylcreem from your hair as the 1200-hp quad-turbo W-16 thwonks your head against the seat.
Because Piëch could not have some yokels from inland Washington one-upping his crown jewel with a pushrod Chevy and some moxie, a Veyron Super Sport—a car with the same powertrain as this Vitesse but freed of its fun-killing speed limiter—hit 268 mph. (Guinness initially was, like, "Brah, limiter removal? That's a mod." Piëch got all up in their grills and was all, "Herren, I will show you a mod! I will show you all of the mods!" Guinness was, like, "Ferd—we were just twistin' yer schnitzel. Here's your fastest-production-car record back." At least, that's how we like to picture it going down.)
But what's ultimately staggering about the Veyron is its visibility. Spend a reasonable amount of time driving around wealthy parts of Los Angeles and you will see one. Head to Monterey in August and you'll lay eyes on so many you're liable to stop counting. They're not just numbers cars or baubles. They're everyday-usable, all-weather machines. Lamborghini built somewhere around 2000 of the Veyron's spiritual forefather, the Countach. And while we haven't counted every Countach we've ever seen, we would not be surprised if we've seen more Veyrons in the flesh.
What beast will next breathe flame 'cross the River Styx from Alsace-Lorraine? (Yes, we're playing fast and loose with geography. So?) There are rumors of a Veyron Speedster variant, which, presumably, somehow wouldn't count as a Veyron, since this is the final one. Alternately, there's the alleged resurrection of the pre-Veyron Chiron nameplate for a car packing 1500 horsepower with a top speed of 288 mph. Presumably so Piëch can go back in time and talk Jerod Shelby into investing in Beanie Babies instead of sports cars. Or to have founders Ross and Norris McWhirter write a rules clarification regarding speed limiters into the Guinness Book's certification guidelines.
- A Mighty Wind: Bugatti Rumored To Be Considering Limited Run of Veyron Speedsters
- Bugatti Veyron Rembrandt Legends Edition: When a Standard Veyron Is Too Ubiquitous
- Bugatti Veyron Full Coverage: News, Photos, Specs, Reviews, and More
When the Molsheim steamroller bowed, some opined that the revived Bugatti exemplified Peak Car: the most monumental application of internal combustion in the service of the roadgoing automobile. And while the Veyron remains the fastest, it has been out-quickened by its VW Group stablemate, the Porsche 918 Spyder, the most rapidly accelerating vehicle this publication has ever tested. If the next Bugatti debuts with 1500 horsepower and goes 288 mph, it will not be the landmark that the Veyron was. It will be the Diablo to the Veyron's Countach. Despite more impressive performance, it will forever live in its predecessor's shadow.
So then, let us savor La Finale, in all its flamboyance and engorged, translucent redness. Salut, Bugatti. Prost, Dr. Piëch. That's a helluva thing you guys built.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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