You may have seen some of these before. Rich guys like to show off you know. Regardless, these ultimate garages still stir the soul in a way only serious car enthusiasts can truly appreciate. There's a 25 page string on Luxury4play.com if you want to see more.
Last night, the Volkswagen Group threw a huge party in Frankfurt. In this video, we bring you the official unveilings of the Audi R8 Spyder, Lamborghini Reventon Roadster and Volkswagen e Up!. You'll see the over-the-top Bugattis and Bentleys, too.
The return of the auto show season can mean only one thing: more special-edition Bugatti Veyrons. This time Bugatti presented the Sang Bleu, which if our high school French is any indication, means "blue blood."
Make the jump for more information and a photo gallery.
Continue reading 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show: Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Sang Bleu.
Seems every carmaker is showing some variety of electric car at Frankfurt. Bugatti was not about to be left out. So it rolled out this little electric buggy, which the company says Bugatti built in 1931. Note the Bugatti-style two-tone paint. Apparently, it once belonged to the king of Belgium. There was a king of Belgium? Now that is silly.
The unveiling of the Bugatti 16C Galibier must be proof that even the fantastically wealthy are worrying about practical, rational things in these tenuous economic times. How else to explain the appearance of a front-engine Bugatti with four doors -- a Bugatti sedan? It's a concept, mind you, so if the Bugatti owners in attendance at the private unveiling don't like it, Bugatti might not build it.
Bugatti mentions the Type 57 as a styling influence, but in profile, the car strikes us an even more eccentric relative of the Porsche Panamera.
Under the hood is a familiar 8.0-liter W16 engine. But instead of quad turbos on the mid-engine Veyron, this one has a two-stage supercharger and flex-fuel capability in case you want to fill up with 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," says the Bugatti press release. So we shouldn't ask about curb weight, then, should we?
More details, we're sure, are forthcoming, but the car is not on the guest list for Frankfurt.
Check the additional photos after the jump.
Continue reading Bugatti Builds a Sedan: 16C Galibier Unveiled at Owners' Event.
A report out of Europe today suggests the Porsche Panamera platform architecture will be shared among other brands within VW Group. This would apparently happen, even if the Panamera expires in 2017 as predicted earlier this week.
An unnamed source close to the company suggests that Audi, Bentley and Bugatti are the most likely candidates. Lamborghini has already been ruled out, even though the Panamera platform looks tempting as a basis for an Estoque production car.
Bentley could use this platform to build the next Continental GT, though the dimensional differences between the Panamera and the current Continental might make it unsuitable. For Bugatti, it could be a front-engined, two- or four-door complement to the Veyron. Or, if Audi decided to use it, it could be a five-door, GT-type hatchback companion to the R8. However, the Panamera's steel structure would probably rule it out for Audi, which likes to build in aluminum, the source concludes.
If you were rubbing shoulders with VW Group's Ferdinand Piech, how would you advise him on using the Porsche Panamera platform architecture?
Inside Line News: Porsche To Share Panamera Platform With Other VW Brands
Why own a regular old Bugatti Veyron when you can have one with a little provenance? Like say, this one currently owned by Formula One driver Jenson Button. We're sure he's taken good care of it, that is when he wasn't out beating it to within an inch of its already short life.
Steve Hurn Specialist Cars: Bugatti Veyron
Last month we showed you the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa that managed to fetch $12.1 million amidst a recession. Now check out the next potential record breaker. It's a 1936 Bugatti Type 57C Coupe owned by Ettore Bugatti himself and it's scheduled for auction at Pebble Beach in August.
The vehicle's history is a lengthy one. It was originally built for Bugatti as a birthday present, and then survived WWII tucked away in Molsheim on the French-German border. Following the war (and Ettore's death) the lime-green-machine was revamped with new interior accessories, a one-off engine and tranny combo and a few other improvements under the hood. It changed hands a couple times over the next fifty years, but - most surprisingly - has maintained its flawless state and never been restored.
Mark the weekend of August 15-16 on your calendars if you're into high-end collector cars as this Bugatti will be just one of many up for sale by Gooding & Company at its annual Pebble Beach auction. -- Mike Lysaght, Contributor
The official bible of the collector car world, Sports Car Market, has a nice little slide show of top auction cars of the year so far. Leading the way is the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testarossa that recently pulled down $12.4M at an auction in Maranello.
Not surprisingly, it's one of four Ferrari's that made the list. Other entries include a Talbot-Lago, a Duesenberg and a couple of Bugatti's. Nice stuff if you've got the scratch.
Sports Car Market: Top 10 Cars of 2009
Say what you will about Chevrolet (and you will), but it has for decades led the industry in production of sometimes-tasteful, often-not special editions of its cars. In this way, Chevy is very much like the Bugatti Veyron, Maybach and Mercedes-McLaren SLR. Otherwise not so much.
So it is with sadness that we report, Chevrolet will not -- we, repeat -- not produce a special edition replica of the 2009 Indianapolis 500 pace car, the 2010 Camaro. No. Stop asking.
This marks the first time Chevrolet won't produce an Indy pace car replica on the years when the Camaro has paced the race ('67, '69, '82, '93).
This may or may not have something to do with the fact that the company will produce an unspecified number of Bumblebee replica Camaros, timed to go on sale when the second Transformers movie opens this summer.
Here's your chance to vote for your favorite special-edition. Will it be the 2010 Bumblee Camaro? The 2010 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car Camaro that won't exist? Or the 1974 Oleg Cassini American Motors Matador?
Stephan Winkelmann may have thought he was being brief and to the point, but Bugatti boss Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen made Winkelmann look chatty in comparison.
Paefgen drove out in the Bugatti Veyron Bleu Centenaire and gave a speech that took all of one or two minutes tops. He noted the car's unique mix of gloss and matte finishes, bespoke wheels and aluminum mirrors. Then he coolly announced that it's a one-off car built to celebrate Bugatti's 100th anniversary and will be priced at 1.35 million euros, or nearly $1.7M.
And contrary to the rumors, there are no engine modifications apart from a layer of Bugatti Bleu paint.
There wasn't much to say after that, so Paefgen got in, chirped the tires on the glass stage and pulled it around back. -- Ed Hellwig, Lead Senior Editor, Inside Line
Continue reading 2009 Geneva Auto Show: Bugatti Veyron Bleu Centenaire.
Photo courtesy of Bonham Auctions
A rare 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante Coupe sold for 3.1 million Euros, or roughly $4M, at the Retromobile Vintage Cars show in Paris on Saturday. The car earned cult status when it was found in a barn late last year after being parked there in the early 1960s.
The circumstances surrounding its secrecy makes us wonder just how much of a true "barn find" this car really was, but clearly someone with deep pockets was convinced.
To see some of the greatest barn finds of all time, check out this article by Ken Gross:
Sleeping Beauties -- Top 10 Great Barn Finds
#DAS09 No official presence for Bugatti at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, but evidently someone wanted a Veyron here and figured the car would speak for itself. It's parked on cheap carpet under really bad light. Nobody's stopping by to say hi. -- Erin Riches, Senior Editor
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So, we're in the midst of the worst financial mess since the great depression, and Bentley and Bugatti are thinking of pairing up, and taking on Rolls-Royce? Are they nuts? Or are they and their customers just sooooo wealthy that they're immune to everything that's going on around them? So what if they or their customers drop a few million on the stock exchange? That must be chump change to these guys.
More über-rich silliness: Captain Mercedes, a.k.a. Dieter Zetsche, says Daimler will not kill the Maybach--and that it's making money!
Last year they sold 146 cars. With the addition of the new 62S Landaulet (pictured), they should sell 150 cars next year. Wow.
So how do you top what is arguably the most impressive road car on the planet, the Bugatti Veyron? Well, you take the top off.
That's exactly what Bugatti did, and then renamed it the Bugatti Veryon 16.4 Grand Sport. As per all Veryons, the Grand Sport is powered by a 1001 hp W16. Sending all that 1-K+1 power to all four wheels is accomplished via a 7-speed DSG. With the top up it has a top speed of 253 mph, and sans top, the maximum velocity is limited to 190 mph. Can you imagine what it must be like doing 190 mph in an open-top car? Yikes!
Only 150 copies will be built, with 50 going to existing Bugatti owners. The car debuted at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, with the proceeds of the first unit being auctioned off going to charity. Price? 1.4 million euros excluding tax. First deliveries are expected in March of 2009.
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