2012 Bugatti Veyron on 2040-cars

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Bugatti begins testing the most expensive new car ever sold

Bugatti has started testing the La Voiture Noire, a stunning one-off unveiled at the 2019 edition of the Geneva auto show. The coupe will be street-legal, so it needs to go through the same tests as a regular-production model. Photos posted on social media show what looks like a La Voiture Noire prototype undergoing a series of evaluations. It's getting sprayed by thousands of gallons of water to ensure it's water-tight, and it's being put through its paces at high speeds on a test track. Bugatti said it has invested over 65,000 engineering hours into the project. The effort put into fine-tuning the La Voiture Noire shows it's much more than merely a rebodied Chiron. While the two cars are mechanically related, the La Voiture Noire wears a specific design penned as a tribute to the Type 57 SC Atlantic built between 1936 and 1938, and all of its exterior panels are new. And yet, it needs to meet the same quality standards as a series-produced car, which explains why putting it on the road is easier said than done. That's also why an anonymous collector paid nearly $19 million including taxes and other fees for the right to own it. One of the Chiron-sourced bits underneath the body is Bugatti's mighty, 8.0-liter W16 engine. It relies on four turbos to develop 1,479 horsepower and 1,180 pound-feet of torque, and it spins the four wheels via a 7-speed automatic transmission. Performance specifications haven't been released yet, but there's no doubt it will be damn quick. Bugatti began delivering the Divo in 2020. It will send the La Voiture Noire to its enigmatic new home in 2021, and Centodieci deliveries are scheduled to start in 2022. Executives have often stated their intention to jump-start the coachbuilding industry, so we're hoping the brand releases additional one- and few-off projects in the coming years. Related Video: Bugatti Chiron Sport Les Legendes du Ciel revealed

Bugatti teases mystery reveal on Facebook

On the heels of the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport being stripped of its World's Fastest Car title by Guinness World Records comes this tease from the French automaker, hinting that it will soon "share the latest example of exceptional Bugatti performance" over the next few days its Facebook page.
The timing of the announcement is interesting. Even though the current Super Sport boasts a quad-turbo 8.0-liter W16 developing 1,200 horsepower that pushes the two-seater to an unrestricted top speed of 267 mph, today's competitors are knocking at kicking down Bugatti's door. The much lighter and more agile Hennessey Venom GT (twin-turbo 7.0-liter V8 rated at 1,244 horsepower) recently ran to nearly 266 mph - and it still hasn't fully stretched its legs. And then there is the Shelby SuperCars Ultimate Aero (twin-turbo 6.9-liter V8 rated at 1,300 horsepower) that will hit 256 mph.
So, we have to ask, what exactly will Bugatti reveal this week? Is this another variant of the Super Sport, sans its electronic limiter for a boosted top end? Is this the rumored 1,600 horsepower Super Veyron, which we first heard about many months ago? Or, will Bugatti finally be revealing a production version of its 16C Galibier sedan? Let us know what you think in our comments section, below.

Bugatti Veyron La Finale gets a video farewell

It's still amazing to think that the Bugatti Veyron project is finally over. Even today, 10 years after the start of production, the car is an engineering marvel. And while Bugatti waved farewell to the supercar at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show with the Grand Sport Vitesse La Finale, it promised a successor was on the way. Before we get to the next Bugatti, though, the brand will milk La Finale for as much news as it can get. The upshot is a peek into Bugatti's sci-fi workshop with a video that chronicles the final build of La Finale. Obviously a performance powerhouse, even the way the Veyron comes together looks unlike any other automobile. The shop has a massive wall of windows, and the metal columns to hold the assemblies can disappear into the floor when not in use. The clip also shows the supercar's rear structure unadorned with the carbon fiber body. The mass of tubes and wires demonstrates just how complicated the W-16 engine really is. This is a wonderful way to bid adieu to the last of a legend.