2006 Bugatti Veyron. 980 Miles. Black/red Black Interior. San Diego on 2040-cars

Auto blog

A pink and white Bugatti Chiron Sport is one of the most outrageous Valentine's Day gifts we've ever seen

Valentine's Day is coming up, and while you may have something special planned for your significant other, it's probably not as wild as what one Bugatti customer has done (though, depending on your significant other, that might be a good thing). The supercar builder revealed the pink Bugatti Chiron Sport above, which is a gift from the buyer to his wife. The car features a one-off paint scheme combining a matte white front half with a Silk Rose metallic rear half. The shimmering pink paint finish is carried to parts of the wheels as well as the engine covers. The interior is wrapped in leather and Alcantara all in a very light gray hue. The upholstery features pink contrast stitching, and the "Comfort"-style seats have the name Alice embroidered into the headrests. Presumably, that's the name of the customer's beloved wife. If not, there could be some explaining to do. Besides the flashy color combo, this Chiron Sport seems to be just like any other Chiron Sport. That's not a bad thing, though, since it still packs 1,479 horsepower from its quad-turbocharged W16 engine. It also weighs 40 pounds less than the regular Chiron and gains stiffer suspension and torque vectoring. An exact price tag for this pink beast wasn't given. The base price for a Chiron Sport is a little over $3.2 million, and the customizing probably added a not-insignificant chunk of change to that figure. We don't know about you all, but we'll probably stick to more modest Valentine's Day gifts and events. Related Video:

Audi CEO's Dieselgate arrest threatens fragile truce among VW stakeholders

FRANKFURT — The arrest and detention of Audi's chief executive forces Volkswagen Group's competing stakeholders to renegotiate the delicate balance of power that has helped keep Audi CEO Rupert Stadler in office. Volkswagen's directors are discussing how to run Audi, its most profitable division, following the arrest of the brand's long-time boss on Monday as part of Germany's investigations into the carmaker's emissions cheating scandal. The supervisory board of Audi, meanwhile, has suspended Stadler and appointed Dutchman Bram Schot as an interim replacement, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Schot joined the Volkswagen Group in 2011 after having worked as president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Italia. He has been Audi's board member for sales and marketing since last September. The discussions risk reigniting tensions among VW's controlling Piech and Porsche families, its powerful labor representatives and its home region of Lower Saxony. VW has insisted the development of illegal software, also known as "defeat devices," installed in millions of cars was the work of low-level employees, and that no management board members were involved. U.S. prosecutors have challenged this by indicting VW's former chief executive Martin Winterkorn. Stadler's arrest raises further questions. Audi and VW said on Monday that Stadler was presumed innocent unless proved otherwise. Munich prosecutors detained Stadler to prevent him from obstructing a probe into Audi's emissions cheating, they said on Monday. Stadler is being investigated for suspected fraud and false advertising. Here are the main factors deciding the fate of Audi. Background: Audi's role in Dieselgate Volkswagen Group was plunged into crisis in 2015 after U.S. regulators found Europe's biggest carmaker had equipped cars with software to cheat emissions tests on diesel engines. The technique of using software to detect a pollution test procedure, and to increase the effectiveness of emissions filters to mask pollution levels only during tests, was first developed at Audi. "In designing the defeat device, VW engineers borrowed the original concept of the dual-mode, emissions cycle-beating software from Audi," VW said in its plea agreement with U.S. authorities in January 2017, in which the company agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine to reach a settlement with U.S. regulators.

Bugatti by Venet is the world's fastest art

Some consider the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport to be a piece of rolling art, while others consider the real masterpiece to be the engineering feats to be what lies underneath. Impressively, French artist Bernar Venet has managed to combine these two notions in one dramatic special edition model: the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Venet.
Venet, whose works can be found everywhere from New Zealand to Versailles, confessed that he initially thought it unnecessary to alter what he already considered a work of art. The French painter and sculptor drew inspiration from Bugatti's engineering equations that led to the development of the Veyron. The numbers and functions were placed on the bodywork in such away that it appears they are being blown off the Grand Sport as it drives at speed. These equations are also stitched into the interior, and the finishing touches come in small replicas of Vanet's works on the oil cap, filler cap and the center console.
The Bugatti Grand Sport Venet will be on display at the Rubell Family collection during Art Basel Miami Beach, which runs through December 9. Check out the video below to see Venet discuss creating this high-speed work of art, surrounded by his own works.