Bugatti Veyron 16.4 enters production

One very significant event to slip under the radar in recent times has been the commencement of series production of what is now unquestionably the world’s fastest, most powerful and over-the-top production automobile ever to be produced – the technical specifications are unique in automobile industry: 987 bhp – 16-cylinder engine – 1,250 Nm at 2,200 rpm – top speed 407 km/h – four turbochargers – permanent four-wheel drive. Never before has such a concentration of technical innovations and top specifications been realised in a series vehicle. Production of this super sportscar began at the home of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. in Molsheim, near Strasbourg in France, a few weeks ago. We have previously covered the Veyron, the history of the world’s fastest production cars and Ettore Bugatti’s remarkable achievements here, here and here.

The production Veyron was unveiled at the recent Tokyo Motor Show, signifying the importance of the Japanese market to elite luxury vehicles. “Japan”, explained Dr. Thomas Bscher, President of Bugatti Automobiles, “is one of the most important markets for luxury automobiles in general and for Bugatti in particular. We know that the marque Bugatti enjoys great respect in Japan and we are very happy that this is where we are for the first time presenting the series model of the new Bugatti Veyron 16.4.” Tokyo has been the scene of a Bugatti Veyron world premiere before – in 1999, when the Bugatti Veyron EB 18/4, with an 18-cylinder engine, but even then with the unmistakable, typical Veyron design, was revealed to the world‘s public.

50 years down the road, a car manufacturer once again

In 1956, the final attempts had failed, in the wake of the death of the company’s founder in 1947 – preceded in death in 1939 by his son Jean, with whom he collaborated – to keep the substantially weakened company alive. After 47 years’ production, in the course of which 7,950 Bugattis of models 13 through 251 had been manufactured, the gates to the Bugatti factory in Molsheim were forced to close

Today, nearly 50 years later to the day, the production of Bugatti automobiles is resuming, making Molsheim once again the hub of the Bugatti world. As a centre for reminiscence, this picturesque, small city near Strasbourg has never lost its significance. The area’s “Enthusiasts Bugatti Alsace”, together with their friends in the various Bugatti clubs throughout the entire world, are in large measure responsible for keeping the brand alive over the decades – even in the absence of the product itself. This is an experience in which various other prestigious automobile brands with melodious names have not shared

It is in this fact that the strength of the Bugatti brand values is expressed most clearly. The admiration for “art on wheels”, the cool achievement of the aesthetic tenacity of Ettore Bugatti was a man who was first and foremost an artist, not a technician. The grandeur of the victories in the glorious years of dirt-encrusted heroes on the racecourses of this world and, not least, the suitability of these racing cars for everyday driving – the latter is what made Bugatti cars accessible to a broader clientele. The prestige of inspired design and the exclusiveness of individual models that helped catapult certain Bugatti models into the astronomical price classes

1998 through 1999: four design studies in 15 months’ time

In April 1998, the Volkswagen Group took over the Bugatti trademark, presenting the brand to the public for the first time at the International Motor Show in Paris with a study for a two-door coupe it had commissioned Italdesign to create: the Bugatti EB 118. A few months later, in March 1999, at the Geneva Motor Show, a design of the EB 218, itself also created at Italdesign, caused a sensation with a four-door saloon using the same 18-cylinder, 6.3 litre engine with 555 hp. This was followed, the same year, at the IAA in Frankfurt, by the centre-engine design, the Bugatti EB 18/3 Chiron; once again Giugiaro was responsible for the design

And shortly thereafter, in Tokyo, the Bugatti EB 18/4 Veyron celebrated its world premiere, a model designed at the “Volkswagen Centre of Excellence Design” under the directorship of Hartmut Warkuss. No more than nearly a year later, in autumn 2000 in Paris, the Veyron 16.4 was shown for the first time. The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 with the ultimate in performance features, the 1,001 hp, 8-litre, 16-cylinder engine and its technological specifications – 1,250 Nm at 2,200 rpm, peak speed of more than 400 km/h, four turbochargers and permanent four-wheel drive – features that have remained in place to this day, celebrated its debut at the IAA in Frankfurt in September of 2001

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