The Car on 2040-cars

Auto blog

110 ans Bugatti Chiron is a red, white and blue anniversary special

Few cars on the planet are as exclusive at the Bugatti Chiron. The multi-million-dollar price tag is part of it, but there's also the simple fact that so few are made. The French automaker, currently owned by Volkswagen, was founded 110 years ago by Ettore Bugatti. To celebrate both the company's anniversary and its French heritage, Bugatti revealed a limited-edition version of last year's Chiron Sport, a more capable version of the Veyron's successor. The Chiron Sport simply refined an already bonkers model, cutting weight thanks to lightweight wheels, thinner glass and even more carbon fiber. The suspension and steering were re-tuned, too, though the 1,479-horsepower quad-turbocharged W16 engine was left untouched. The 110 ans Bugatti doesn't add any more performance, though it doesn't really need it anyway. For those discerning customers that want a Bugatti that corners, look no further than the Divo. The 110 ans Bugatti will be limited to just 20 examples. Though Bugatti doesn't mention it, all are likely spoken for. The car looks so French it's liable to play "La Marseillaise" every single time you open the door. The entire exterior has been painted a deep matte blue. The brake calipers are a brighter shade, reminiscent of French racing blue. The brightest and arguably best exterior touches are the French flag's red, white and blue tricolor bars on the mirrors, fuel door and rear wing. The latter is only visible when the movable wing is in it's up position. The leather interior is done up in the same shade as the exterior. Deep blue leather covers nearly every surface, though the seats and seatbelts are done in the same blue as the brake calipers. The seats themselves feature a tricolor stripe along the center, split in the headrest by a "110 ans Bugatti" logo. The steering wheel, too, gets a French flag in the top center of the rim. Related Video:

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse sets world record for fastest open-top car

Bugatti has come back from losing its "World's Fastest Production Car" title with a new superlative to add to the Veyron's trophy case: World's Fastest Open-Top Production Car. That's right, if you can't beat 'em, take the roof off and join them.
The record of 408.84 kilometers per hour, or 254.04 miles per hour, was set by a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse driven by Chinese racing driver Anthony Liu at Volkswagen Group's proving grounds in Ehra-Lessian, Germany. The speed was measured and verified by the German Technical Inspection and Certification Association, or TÜV.
That last point is important to note, as the kerfuffle over the closed-roof Veyron's record involved the Guinness World Records organization, which both sanctioned the car's world record run back in 2010 and then stripped Bugatti of the title after it was learned the car used to set the record had its speed-limited removed. Also, whereas Guinness calculates a car's speed based on the average of two runs in opposite directions, Bugatti doesn't say what criteria TÜV used to verify and calculate the convertible's speed.

Bugatti SUV: Call it what you will, it's waiting for a green light

Three years ago, then-Bugatti CEO Wolfgan Durheimer said the hyper-indulgent brand was looking at four different bodystyles for a second model line. He wouldn't identify the styles, but they were thought to be a sedan like the 2009 Galibier concept or 2+2 GT, a less extraterrestrial supercar, an electric car, and an SUV. Some rumors of late suggest plans for a "Royale electric limousine" are in the pipeline. Before that, though, Car magazine says "a crossover-influenced sports car" is only waiting for sign-off from Volkswagen Group execs. As far as we can tell, the phrase "crossover-influenced sports car" is a way to escape calling this reported product an SUV. Remember, brand CEO Stephan Winkelmann said in January that "There will be no SUV from Bugatti" because it didn't fit the Molsheim automaker's heritage and disposition. There could be shades of Italianate wrangling between a boutique brand and a parent company going on here. When ex-Ferrari CEO Luca de Montezemolo said the brand would never build an SUV, he was soon overruled by parent-company CEO Sergio Marchionne. That's how we'll get the Purosangue next year, which the Modena sports car maker calls an FAV, for Ferrari Activity Vehicle. So Luca, with help from the marketing team, was technically correct. Point being that when discussing the shape of the next model, Winkelmann explained needing to balance investment with return, and said, "it's not me to decide." If said proposal gets the green light, it "won't be a traditional SUV." The picture painted is of something like a two-door Lamborghini Urus with a higher seating position, much faster bodywork, and much less weight. Underneath would be a Bugatti platform not shared with the rest of the group. Instead of the 641 horsepower kicked out by the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 in the Urus, the report says Bugatti would inject some sort of electrical assistance to achieve 1,000 hp. Winkelmann is known to be against a hybrid powertrain for the eventual Chiron successor because of the weight and space penalties, but a crossover-like sports car would alleviate those concerns. The form factor would also achieve the more livable brief Bugatti's been talking about for ages, and address global emissions issues such as EV-only zones being proposed in cities around the world. The model would sit "below the Chiron but on top of every other model," and cost less than the $3 million Chiron. Production is said to be capped at 800 units per year.