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What's up with this Bugatti Veyron spied at the N?rburgring?

It's been sixteen years since Volkswagen acquired the Bugatti name and started showing off successive concept cars to preview the Veyron that followed. It's been eleven years since the first Veyron prototype started testing, and nine years since it entered production. But soon - probably sometime next year - Bugatti will have sold the last of the Veyrons it will ever build. And considering that the Veyron is the only model it offers, it will need something else to take its place, lest the marque effectively go dormant once again.
Having ruled out the prospect of doing a less expensive sports car years ago and, more recently, the production prospects for the Galibier super-sedan, Bugatti is committed to further the concept of a super-sports car that will, in all likelihood, be lighter than the current Veyron - which may seem like a no-brainer, considering the car weighs over 4,000 pounds - but with an engine that is, by every metric but output, twice the size of the one you'd find in, say, a modern McLaren, trimming weight will be no mean feat.
That does appear, however, to be what Bugatti is seen testing at the Nürburgring in this video clip below. Going by the handle fastsportscardriver, the videographer/uploader doesn't seem to know what he has captured here, but the Grand Sport prototype he's spotted seems to be wearing some sort of metal frame over the exposed engine, suggesting something's at work here. Just what that is, we don't know. But when you're dealing with an engine that already produces upwards of a thousand horsepower, whatever they're working on, it's got to be good.

Bugatti evaluating a trio of Veyron successors

Bugatti is nearing the very end of its Veyron production run with only around 15 of the supercars reportedly left to be sold of the 450-car total. With so few remaining, the supremely posh automaker is already deep into development discussions of a successor, but it doesn't seem that the company has a final design in mind quite yet.
According to two unnamed insiders speaking to Bloomberg, Bugatti is evaluating at least three concepts for the Veyron's successor. They claim that the new model will be lighter than the current one with an engine capable of producing about 1,500 horsepower. Also, at least one of these prototypes is using an electric motor for additional boost.
These latest leaks lend further substantiation to the circulating rumors about Bugatti's future. One earlier report claimed that the hypercar would use a modified version of the current 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16, possibly with direct injection, electrically powered turbos and an additional electric motor to boost the top speed to around 286 miles per hour. Also, two prototypes (pictured above) were spotted testing at the Nürburgring earlier this year, and one of them wore an odd contraption on its back. Other speculation indicated the new model would reportedly be called the Chiron, a reference to a famous Bugatti racing driver and the name for one of the company's concepts that previewed the Veyron's shape.

Bugatti's third Legend edition Veyron pays tribute to Meo Costantini

Bugatti is in the midst of a six-part special series of Veyrons that pay tribute to legendary figures from its history. The first, unveiled at Pebble Beach, paid tribute to Jean-Pierre Wimille. The second arrived in Frankfurt to recall Jean Bugatti. Given the patent application we came across, we expected the next would honor Ettore's brother Rembrandt Bugatti, who designed the prancing elephant hood ornament. But that one will apparently have to wait, because Molsheim has just revealed the third edition in its Les Légendes de Bugatti series in tribute to one Meo Costantini.
A close personal friend of Ettore himself, Meo Costantini raced Bugattis in the 1920s and went on to manage the factory racing team. He won the Targa Florio twice in a Bugatti Type 35, a model that went down in history as one of the most successful racing cars ever made, and won several grands prix.
Like the other Legend specials, the Costantini edition is based on the Vitesse roadster with its 1,200-horsepower, 8.0-liter, quad-turbo W16 engine; 2.6-second 0-62 time; and 253-mile-per-hour top speed. What sets this one apart is its trim. The carbon-fiber parts of the bodywork are painted in signature French Racing Blue, and the aluminum is left exposed, polished and clear-coated. The map of the Targa Florio route is painted on the underside of the rear wing and imprinted in between the seats, and Costantini's signature is etched into the fuel cap and embroidered into the headrests.