Bugatti Veyron Lower Front Spoiler on 2040-cars

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Bugatti enters the car-branded hookah market

Ever look at the price of a new Veyron and wonder what they're smoking over in Molsheim? Heck, that latest special edition Vitesse costs nearly $3 million, and that's before taxes and delivery. Well, we've got the answer right here. It's a shisha pipe - the kind smoked in bedouin tents and cafés frequented by Middle Eastern gentlemen the world over - and it's branded by Bugatti.
The pipe is hand-crafted from titanium and carbon fiber (instead of the usual glass and steel) and stands about two and a half feet tall. It's made by a company called Desvall, which contrary to what you might think, is located not on the eastern or southern shores of the Mediterranean or along the Persian Gulf, but in Stockholm, Sweden.
And the price? A suitably Bugatti-like $100,000. That's a heck of a lot more than the already-outrageous $1,950 that Porsche Design gets for its shisha, which, let's face it, is basically a beautifully-crafted but overpriced water bong, to say nothing of what an average shisha would cost you in the bazaar. But we're sure there are some customers somewhere in the world who'd gladly pony up that amount to smoke a Bugatti pipe next to their Veyron in their lavishly appointed garage at the end of a sand-swept driveway. And Desvall only needs 150 of them, because that's all they're making.

The legend lives on in Bugatti Black Bess promo clip

To this year's Beijing Motor Show, Bugatti showed up with a special Veyron called Black Bess. It's the fifth in a series of six Legend editions that pay homage to a figure from the Alsatian marque's considerable history - in this case legendary French aviator Roland Garros. Now it's released a promo video showing off the stunning (if mechanically unaltered) black Vitesse roadster.
Not that Bugatti will need any help selling the Black Bess edition, of which only three will be made. Despite their $3 million price tags, Bugatti has sold every one of the previous four Legend runs, helping it move those last examples of the legendary Veyron before it can move on to the next chapter in its history.
Like any other Vitesse, the Black Bess edition packs a 6.0-liter, quad-turbo W16 engine driving 1,184 horsepower to all four wheels. What sets this special edition apart is the lustrous black paint, 24-carat gold accents and uniquely decorated cream leather interior with historic story-boards of classic Bugatti T18 and airplanes on the door panels. All of which may strike you as rather silly, but makes for a rather stunning vehicle highlighted in the video below.

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport on 'Ring for record attempt?

The December 2005 issue of Australian motoring mag Wheels said the Bugatti Veyron lapped the Nürbugring in 7:40 in traffic. In the intervening years, depending on which list you consult, that particular time would leave the Veyron behind as few as 11 or as many as 38 other cars. Bugatti was quiet about it, but the company is quiet about almost everything that doesn't involve a new special edition or straight-line speed.
Among the other things Bugatti has neglected to publicize is the presence of a factory-plated Veyron Super Sport caught doing recon laps at the 'Ring. This might or might not lead to any publicly declared lap time, but even if it does, none of us should expect a miracle. A five-percent improvement would be colossal, and colossally unlikely - there are just as many curves at the 'Ring now as there were in 2005, and the massive Veyron SS still isn't made to take them. But say the Alsatian supercoupe did cleave 23 seconds off the lap, that would still leave it at 7:17, two seconds behind the Donkervoort D8 RS, one second ahead of the Porsche GT2 RS.
So now that the pressure's off, let's just say we'll be happy with any time the Veyron SS turns in so long as we get some in-car video to take the virtual ride. Scroll down for some video of the supercar on the track. Sounds beastly.