2012 Bugatti Veyron on 2040-cars

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Vile Gossip: Ladies who launch

Jean Jennings has been writing about cars for more than 30 years, after stints as a taxicab driver and as a mechanic in the Chrysler Proving Grounds Impact Lab. She was a staff writer at Car and Driver magazine, the first executive editor and former president and editor-in-chief of Automobile Magazine, the founder of the blog Jean Knows Cars and former automotive correspondent for Good Morning America. She has lifetime awards from both the Motor Press Guild and the New England Motor Press Association. Look for more Vile Gossip columns in the future. The year was 2006. We were driving a Bugatti Veyron 16.4 across the Florida Panhandle from Jacksonville to Panama City, only because I couldn't convince Bugatti to let me be the first to drive its exotic powerhouse, the world's fastest car at that time, all the way across America. One gleaming example had arrived in time for the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, where the journos massed for their quick test drives out the front drive of the Ritz Carlton, down a short stretch of the A1A, and back to the Ritz. Not far enough for me. I wanted to take the Veyron in all of its 16-cylinder, 1,001-horsepower, $1.3-million-dollar glory on a coast-to-coast extravaganza of a road trip. Never hurts to ask. I asked. Once the Bugatti guys stopped hyperventilating, I explained that the coastal adventure would be contained wholly within the state of Florida, from the Atlantic coast to the Gulf of Mexico. My secret destination, however, was to be Vernon, Florida, home of the great Errol Morris' classic documentary about a town in the Panhandle with the highest per-capita population of citizens who'd blown off or whacked off a limb for insurance money. (Google "Nub City.") The Swiss head of Bugatti public relations thought it hilarious. He showed up in a van with a couple of German mechanics to follow us and a failed French Formula 1 driver to serve as my chaperone. I came with a photographer from Germany and one of the most infamous of bad-boy auto magazine tech editors, the irrepressible Don Sherman. Sherman had his own reason for going, and it had nothing to do with a Veyron to Vernon. Once we gave up looking for nubbies, he ordered me to veer south to the handgrip of the Panhandle, familiarly known as the Redneck Riviera. The Don was aiming to secretly execute the Veyron's first Launch Control blastoff in captivity.

Bugatti unveils a $300,000 pool table that stays level on a yacht

Bugatti has solved a problem many of us didn't know existed: How to play pool on a yacht when the sailing isn't as smooth as you'd like it to be. It developed a luxurious pool table made with carbon fiber that can be optionally upgraded with gyroscopic self-leveling technology to prevent the balls from rolling, even on the high seas. Part of the company's Lifestyle Collection, the limited-edition pool table was created through a partnership with carbon fiber expert IXO. Its exposed outer shell is made with the composite material and finished to look like the French carmaker's unique breed of hypercars, while its frame is built with machined aluminum and titanium. Bugatti proudly notes its pool table meets the standards of the equipment that professionals use during tournaments. The self-leveling technology relies on a gyroscopic sensor to keep the table steady on a yacht. According to Bugatti, each leg can move individually to compensate for the movement of a ship. The system makes silent, vibration-free adjustments in five milliseconds. Bugatti charges extra for this technology. It's a must if you want to play while sailing, but buyers who plan to put the table in their house hopefully won't need it. Each table comes with carbon fiber pool cues that have aluminum ends inspired by the buttons found in Bugatti's cars, a wall-mounted cue support with a 13-inch touchscreen that lets users keep track of the score, a dimmable LED ceiling light, a chalk box, a cleaning brush, and a suitcase upholstered with Bugatti leather to carry the balls. Buyers will also receive a USB drive with photos and videos taken during their table's production process. Bugatti will begin delivering its pool table in June 2021. Production is limited to 30 units, and pricing starts at 250,000 euros including all accessories, a sum that represents around $300,000 at the current conversion rate.

Bugatti's Chiron successor will make its debut on June 20 with V16 power

Bugatti built the final Chiron, a Super Sport model called L'Ultime, in May 2024. We won't have to wait long to find out what's next: the brand has already announced that the Chiron's successor will get a new V16 engine, and it confirmed the model will make its debut on June 20. Little is known about the model — its name hasn't even been revealed yet. We're guessing it will inaugurate a new nameplate rather than land as, say, the second-generation Chiron, though this is pure speculation. What's certain is that the model will be new from the ground up. The quad-turbocharged W16 engine that has powered every Bugatti since the brand's revival will join the pantheon of automotive history. Instead, the Chiron's successor will use a new V16 engine developed in-house. The 16-cylinder will be part of a hybrid system, and Bugatti has previously described its next hypercar as being "heavily electrified." The chassis will be entirely new as well, so it will be interesting to see how Bugatti manages to offset the weight added by the hybrid system. For context, the Chiron was built largely out of carbon fiber. Achim Anscheidt, Bugatti's former head of design, previously told Autoblog that starting the project on a blank slate allowed his team to fine-tune the car's proportions."[The car] will certainly be tailored to one or the other aspect of a hybrid," he explained. The interior will evolve as well, but don't expect wall-to-wall screens. "Bugatti models need to sit on the lawn at Pebble Beach in 50 years and work," he summed up. While nothing suggests the Chiron's replacement will go retro, Bugatti notes it rummaged through its catalog of past models for inspiration. The Type 57 SC Atlantic, the Type 41 Royale, and the Type 35 all shaped the new car. The French brand considers the first two its most beautiful and its most luxurious cars, respectively, and the latter is widely credited as one of the most successful Grand Prix cars ever raced. Bugatti will stream the unveiling on its YouTube channel, and Autoblog will be there live to bring you fresh images of the car. Bugatti Luxury Performance Supercars