The 1,200 hp Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.
After an extended run – a bit longer, in fact, than was originally intended — the last Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is getting ready to roll off the assembly line.
But don’t fret. If you’ve been saving up to get that million-dollar exotic, there’ll be something to follow promises Volkswagen AG’s most exclusive brand.
Not surprisingly, Bugatti isn’t revealing who placed the order for the last of what will prove to be only 300 cars carrying the Veyron badge. But it does note that the final model is expected to roll off the line sometime in the upcoming autumn.,
Finishing production with the 300th Veyron is in line with the plans Bugatti announced nearly a decade ago, but the project took a bit longer than originally anticipated. The original goal was to launch production by spring 2004, rolling out one car a week, which means the program would have been wrapped up by early 2010.
The Bugatti Galibier concept may reappear as the Bugatti Royale.
Initial orders wound up lagging expectations, and the global economic downturn of 2009 – 2010 didn’t help.
So, now what? There’s been plenty of debate over the years as to the ultimate merits of bringing back the legendary Bugatti name – a badge that graces some of the most elegant – and expensive – classic cars ever built. More than a few skeptics urged VW to cancel the financially-challenged Veyron project before it came to its promised conclusion.
But a release from the automaker insists, “the story of Bugatti’s exceptional sports car is set to continue.” It notes the Grand Sport supercar, which can make a top speed of 255 mph (407 kmh) is still available, “and we intend to maintain the same standard in our future Bugatti products,” hints Wolfgang Durheimer, president of the Bugatti brand.
But what sort of products will follow?
The big bet is on a production version of last year’s Bugatti concept sedan, the Galibier. And insiders are hinting that the name will be revised to resurrect one of the most awe-inspiring badges in automotive history, the Bugatti Royale.
It may be ready in time for the original Royale’s 85th birthday, next year. Only six of the original Royales were ever produced before the Depression rolled in. They measured a whopping 21 feet, nose-to-tail, bigger than today’s full-size pickups. Power came from a 12.7-liter straight-eight making enough muscle that 23 additional engines produced by Ettore Bugatti were eventually used for locomotives.
The Galibier, for those who don’t recall, was actually an effort in restraint by the reincarnated Bugatti brand, boasting “only” 800 horsepower. The original Veyron 16.4 started out making 1,001 from its 8-liter, 16-cylinder engine, with its four continuously variable camshafts and four turbochargers. That’s enough to launch it from 0 to 100 kmh (62.5 mph) in just 2.5 seconds.
For those that felt the need for even more speed, the Super Sport edition bumped the pony count to 1,200, and cut launch times to 2.3 seconds. The Super Sport also nudged the top speed to just under 260 mph, giving it honors as the fastest production car ever.