2012 Bugatti Veyron on 2040-cars

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Bugatti files for Rembrandt patent

Though increasingly uncommon today, back in the day every automaker had a hood ornament. Bugatti's was an elephant standing up on its hind legs with its trunk extended into the sky. It capped the nose on the famous Bugatti Type 41 Royale, and it was designed by Rembrandt.
No, not the famous Dutch artist, but Rembrandt Bugatti - the younger brother of carmaker Ettore Bugatti who was named after the painter.
So why do we mention this, you ask? Because one of our readers just alerted us to a patent application with the European Union's Office for Hamonization in the Internal Market. It was filed by Audi's intellectual property office on behalf of its sister company and encompasses the name Rembrandt Bugatti.

2022 Villa d'Este Concours d'Elegance Mega Gallery | The show in pictures

COMO, Italy — Held annually, the Villa d'Este Concours d'Elegance is, in many ways, Europe's version of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. It takes place in a beautiful location, and it brings together an impressive selection of rare and valuable cars. It's a real treat for the eyes, the ears, and, if you're into champagne, the palate. The 2022 edition of the show was no exception: About 50 cars were shipped to Lake Como from over a dozen countries, and it wasn't just the usual suspects. Sure, there were a lot of pre-war cars (including a couple of one-off models), but some of the icons that younger enthusiasts grew up with (like the Lamborghini Countach) were present as well. This year's event was split into eight categories: The Art Deco Era of Motor Car Design, The Supercharged Mercedes-Benz, How Grand Entrances Were Once Made, Eight Decades of Ferrari Represented in Eight Icons, "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday," BMW's M Cars and Their Ancestors, Pioneers That Chased the Magic 300 KPH, And a design award for concept and prototypes. The jury gave the coveted "best of show" award to a 1937 Bugatti 57 S owned by Andrew Picker of Monaco, while the aforementioned classes were won by, respectively: The Bugatti 57 S, shown below, A 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet, A 1956 Chrysler Boano Coupe Speciale, A 1966 Ferrari 356 P Berlinetta Speciale Tre Posti, A 1961 Porsche 356 B Carrera Abarth GTL, A 1972 BMW 3.0 CSL, A 1989 Porsche 959 Sport, And the Bugatti Bolide concept unveiled in 2020. Winning at Villa d'Este is a big deal: The cars are judged by a panel of highly experienced judges. No one gave me a scoring sheet, presumably out of fear that I'd award points to the late-model Fiat 600 lurking in the parking lot, but several cars that didn't win an award caught my eye. One is a 1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sports, a grand-prix racer that was once owned by King Leopold III of Belgium and that has never been restored — its patina is inimitable. Another is a 1961 BMW 700 RS. One of two built (the other is in the BMW collection), it's a tiny, ultra-light roadster related to the 700 and powered by a 697-cubic-centimeter air-cooled flat-twin tuned to develop 70 horsepower. It won several hill-climb events during the 1960s, and it's one of the rarest cars ever to wear a BMW roundel. Aston Martin's freshly-restored 1979 Bulldog concept was cool to see as well; check out the cassette player integrated into the headliner!

Bugatti Veyron bids adieu with the Grand Sport Vitesse La Finale [w/video]

It's the end of an automotive era at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show as Bugatti unveils the last Veyron, and it's appropriately named La Finale. Based on the Grand Sport Vitesse, this vehicle is number 450 of a production run that included 300 coupes and 150 convertibles, over the last decade. Sitting right next to La Finale on Bugatti's Geneva show stand is the very first Veyron chassis built, and the pair purposefully carry similar stylistic cues. Where the original car combines a black-painted hood over red fenders, the final one switches the motifs around. Although, the color now comes from exposed carbon fiber, and this marks the first use of crimson carbon on a Veyron. The choice of material lends a muted, almost somber tone to the design, which is appropriate for the concluding model. A set of matching, maroon wheels and contrasting air intakes complete the look. The interior continues the scarlet theme with more exposed carbon fiber and a shade of leather called Hot Spur. Contrasting cream upholstery provides some visual relief, though. For their final outing, the designers took the opportunity to add a few unique touches, as well. Bugatti's famous elephant logo appears on the wheel center caps, fuel door and oil cap. There's also another one cast from bronze on the storage compartment cover inside the car. In addition, the La Finale gets written in a brighter shade of red under the passenger-side headlight and on the bottom of the wing. Mechanically, the La Finale doesn't receive anything extra over the other Grand Sport Vitesse vehicles. It still sports an 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16 with 1,184 horsepower and 1,106 lb-ft of torque. The sprint to 62 miles per hour reportedly comes up in a shockingly quick 2.6 seconds, and a top speed of 255 mph is claimed possible. While this ends the story of Veyron production, Bugatti isn't going to fade away now. The company says that development of its next vehicle is "well underway," in the La Finale announcement. "With the next Bugatti model, we are aiming to consolidate and expand the market-leading position we have established with the Veyron," said Bugatti President Wolfgang Durheimer. "Our challenge is to make the best even better." That certainly leaves something to look forward to. Related Video: Geneva International Motor Show 2015: Bugatti celebrates the Veyron World premiere of the 450th and final Veyron, the Grand Sport Vitesse "La Finale" ?