2012 Bugatti Veyron on 2040-cars

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Bugatti Veyron Legends Edition Black Bess isn't exactly subtle

The Bugatti Veyron Legend editions may do nothing to alter the Grand Sport Vitesse's already prodigious performance, but buyers appear to love them. Four special models have been unveiled so far, and Bugatti has sold out of all of them. At the 2014 Beijing Motor Show, the automaker has introduced the fifth Legend - the Black Bess.
Unlike the previous models, this Legend is inspired by a specific car, rather than a person. Black Bess was the name of a Bugatti Type 18 owned by famous French aviator Roland Garros. With seven examples built from 1912 to 1914, the 18 was a supercar in its time. It sported a 99-horspower, 5.0-liter four-cylinder engine and could reach 100 miles per hour. While paltry today, it was amazing performance by contemporary standards.
The modern Black Bess packs the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse's 1,184-hp, quad-turbo W16 engine, and it wears rich, black paint with 24-carat gold accents. The interior has a combination of beige, brown and red leather, but its real showpieces are the hand-painted leather door panels that depict the Type 18 and Roland Garros' plane.

Coming Bugatti reportedly gets NA V16 PHEV powertrain making 1,800 horsepower

With Bugatti having shown the Chiron successor to select clientele, a growing number of unconfirmed reports from reputable sources are filling in blanks with fascinating details. Let's start with the already confirmed fact that the new engine unit nestled at the back of the new carbon monocoque would trade the Chiron's quad-turbocharged W16 for a 90-degree V16. The best source for more intel is Bugatti-Rimac CEO Mate Rimac, who joined Ineos Automotive CEO Lynn Calder as one of the guest speakers at the Financial Times' Future of the Car summit in London. Autocar reports he told his audience the engine by itself is 39.4 inches long (one meter), making it 15.8 inches longer than the W16. Germany's Auto, Moto, und Sport writes that when including the hybrid element, the power unit is nearly two meters long, almost 78.7 inches. Rimac had to win boardroom battles to get that engine approved. Some background: Years ago, when Stephan Winkelmann ran Bugatti, he not only hinted repeatedly at some kind of electric SUV, but when asked about a "three-door, ultra-premium crossover SUV" in 2019, he replied, "The design is done. Some potential customers have seen it, and they liked it." At the London summit, Mate Rimac confirmed such a vehicle had been in development, and that it was planned to use battery-electric power on a Rimac chassis. But Mate managed to convince Volkswagen Group bosses that a full EV wasn't the way to go at a time when most company chiefs believed EVs had almost finished starving internal combustion of its fossil fuels. He's been proved more right than anyone expected or wanted; he said Rimac Automobili still hasn't sold out its 150 Nevera build slots.  There are no turbos involved in this PHEV — this is a free-breathing V16, just like the last V16 to reach the marketplace, the 6.0-liter unit in the Cizeta V16T. AMS claims Bugatti's engine has been developed with Cosworth's help, is bored out to 8.3 liters, revs to 9,000 rpm, and makes about 1,000 metric horsepower on its own (986 U.S. horsepower). That's close to double the power from the Cizeta's V16, which made 540 hp and 400 pound-feet of torque. The mill has been on the dyno since at least the end of 2022. Instead of turbos from Molsheim, a hybrid element is thought to add another 800 hp in final configuration. If that's the case, the new car will go beyond the W16's 1,587-hp swan song in the Mistral roadster. What is that hybrid element?

This 1:4 scale Bugatti Chiron engine costs $10,000

Is $10,000 too much for a non-functioning powertrain? Amalgam, a company that specializes in high-end scale models of everything from cars to steering wheels has meticulously crafted a 1:4 scale replica of the 8.0-liter, 16-cylinder, 1,500-horsepower behemoth that powers the Bugatti Chiron. The model is so detailed that at first glance you'd swear it was the real thing, provided a banana isn't used for scale. According to Amalgam, this is the first model engine the company has built since the early 2000s. It worked closely with the engineers at Bugatti to make sure everything is exactly how it appears on the real car. Look close and you'll find all of the parts numbers, barcodes and hose clamps are exactly the same, just smaller. Like the real engine, this W16 features four scale turbochargers. All in, there was roughly 2,500 hours or more than three months of development time. Each model takes 220 hours to assemble, hence the $9,365 price tag. The engine is constructed mainly of pewter and stainless steel. The entire model is 18 inches long and 9 inches high. Pre-orders are open, though first deliveries aren't expected until January. Related Video: