1981 Delorean Dmc-12 Leather on 2040-cars

Auto blog

The very last Bugatti Veyron will be shown in Geneva

Inside of a lengthy interview with Auto, Motor und Sport that dealt mostly with future Bentley products, Bentley and Bugatti chief Wolfgang Durheimer said the 450th Bugatti Veyron will be at next month's Geneva Motor Show. That's a special number, seeing as it means the end of Veyron production after ten years, 300 coupes, and 150 open-air variants. Six weeks ago the Molsheim company had space for eight more Veyron commissions, but it's a good bet that all the stock down to this last car has been sold. Durheimer wouldn't say, but the hypothesis is that Veyron number 450 will be a Grand Sport Vitesse, the extra-go-fast targa with 1,183-horsepower erupting from its 16-cylinder engine. The boss also tempered expectations as to when the Veyron's successor will be shown, saying "it takes time to create a work of art" when asked if we'd see it in 2016. Durheimer did say that it would be "even better," which means it will probably travel even faster than the rumors around it, the last batch of hearsay bespeaking of something lighter than the Veyron, with 1,500 horsepower from a hybrid powertrain, and a top speed of 286 miles per hour. And that would be quite the start on the way to "even better," as well as too much of a burden for any tires currently available on Earth. Featured Gallery Bugatti Grand Sport Vitesse "Jean Bugatti": Frankfurt 2013 View 18 Photos News Source: Auto Motor und Sport via Motor AuthorityImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Geneva Motor Show Bugatti Convertible Luxury Performance Supercars wolfgang durheimer bugatti veyron grand sport vitesse

Felicity Ace sinks with thousands of VWs, Porsches, Lamborghinis

The stricken ship Felicity Ace sank overnight after a week of salvage efforts ultimately proved unsuccessful. The ship, which was carrying up to 4,000 VW Group cars, went to the bottom unexpectedly while a salvage team was attempting to tow it to shore, Bloomberg reports.  "Initial reports from the local salvage team state that the vessel had sunk at around 9AM local time having suffered a list to starboard," Mitsui O.S.K. Lines transportation company (MOL), which owns the Felicity Ace, said in a statement released early Tuesday.    "The last vessel position was around 220nm off the Azores," MOL said. "The salvage crafts will remain around the area to monitor the situation. Further information will be provided as it becomes available." The ship sank after being battered by waves and listing 45 degrees to starboard, the ship’s operator said. “The weather was pretty rough out there,” Pat Adamson, a spokesperson for MOL Ship Management (Singapore), a unit of Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd., said by phone. “And then she sank, which was a surprise.” VW, Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini-branded models were aboard the ship, which was headed to Rhode Island from GermanyÂ’s Emden port when the fire broke out on Feb. 16.  Rough seas and ongoing fires fueled by the lithium-ion batteries of EVs onboard delayed the ship's salvage and recovery operations for the better part of a week. While the likelihood of salvaging the smoke and potentially fire- and water-damaged vehicles from Felicity Ace's hold was slim to none, some had held out hope that their special-ordered vehicles might survive the mishap.  The Panama-flagged Felicity Ace was safely evacuated of its 22 crew members by the Portuguese navy after a fire started in its hold more than a week ago. The ship can carry up to 4,000 cars. European carmakers declined to discuss how many vehicles and what models were on board, but it appears to have been transporting approximately 2,500 cars, including roughly 1,100 Porsches and an undetermined number of Volkswagens.  The cars aboard were on order. Porsche customers in the United States were being contacted by their dealers, the company said. “We are already working to replace every car affected by this incident and the first new cars will be built soon,” Angus Fitton, vice president of PR at Porsche Cars North America, Inc., told The Associated Press in an email. The ship sank in water nearly 10,000 feet deep, the Portuguese Navy said.

2018 Bugatti Chiron gets the one thing (two, actually) it didn't have

If you thought there couldn't be anything missing on the multi-million-dollar, 1,500-horsepower, 250-mph Bugatti Chiron hypercar, we wouldn't blame you. But you would also be wrong. Apparently this massively fast tribute to capitalism didn't have an option for a sunroof. Can you believe it? The 2018 Bugatti Chiron couldn't be had with a feature you can get on a Hyundai Accent. Well, Bugatti Chiron buyers no longer have to suffer this indignity thanks to a new option called "Sky View." What Sky View amounts to are two glass panels, one over each seat, affixed to the roof of the hypercar. Each panel is laminated for a total of four layers and is designed to provide both UV protection for occupants and to be stiff and strong both to keep the car rigid and provide protection in a crash. Another upside to the option is that it adds 2.7 centimeters, or about an inch, of headroom. There do appear to be a couple of downsides, though. Bugatti mentions that the panels are tinted to keep the incoming light from being too overbearing, but it says nothing about any sort of sunshade if you find the tinting to not be sufficient. Not only that, but the panels are fixed, so you won't be able to get much of an open-air feeling. We should say the aforementioned Hyundai Accent has both of these features, but hey, you're making progress Bugatti, and that should be lauded. Maybe you'll get those details next time. Related Video: