The Bugatti Veyron debuted in 2005 as an exercise in excess the supercar world had never seen. Now, Bugatti is building one final Veyron, rumored to sell for eight figures.
The original Bugatti Veyron had an unprecedented price tag
The original Veyron boasted a 16-cylinder engine with four turbochargers, making 1,000 horsepower. Refined French styling balanced the absurd output. The price started at 1 million euros, or about $1.25 million at the time. Preposterous. This was an era when buyers could drive home a brand-new Lamborghini for $176,200.
The Veyron proved there was a market for ultra-rare hypercars. Today, that space is crowded with everything from Paganis to Rimacs. Some of the rarest examples, however, remain Bugatti one-offs.
The latest is the “Hommage,” a $10 million tribute to the Veyron and the final W16 powertrain. It is not a Chiron with a body kit. It serves as a poetic bookend to Bugatti’s W16 era.
How Bugatti got here
Ettore Bugatti founded the company that bears his name in 1909. His Type 35 Grand Prix car became the most successful race car in history. He leveraged that success to sell bespoke grand touring cars to the wealthy and royal, including the famed Bugatti Atlantic. The company never truly recovered from World War II. Ettore officially shut the doors in 1952.
A group of unrelated investors later bought the name and built the EB110 supercar from 1991 to 1995. The car even competed at Le Mans. The company folded soon after. Then Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Karl Piëch entered the picture.
Piëch was the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and served as chairman of Volkswagen Group from 1993 to 2002. He pitched a radical idea. Volkswagen would buy the Bugatti name and sell a supercar priced above Ferrari and Lamborghini.
Trained as an engineer, Piëch sketched a W-shaped 16-cylinder engine while riding a Japanese bullet train. He placed four turbochargers between the cylinder banks. The design allowed an all-wheel-drive car with 16 cylinders to fit on a 106-inch wheelbase.
Piëch gave his engineers two demands. The car needed 1,000 horsepower. It also needed a 250-mph top speed.
Bugatti unveiled the Veyron concept at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show. A second concept received the W16 engine in 2000. The first prototype hit public roads in 2003. Production began for the 2005 model year.
Today, Bugatti and Rimac have partnered on a successor to the W16. The upcoming Tourbillon will use a hybrid V16 powertrain.
Though the engine was split between the Veyron and its “Chiron” successor, Bugatti built the powertrain for more years than the famed Type 35. Over the past two decades, Bugatti pushed the W16 to its absolute limits. The Chiron Super Sport 300+ reached 304.7 mph, setting a production car top speed record.
Book-ending Bugatti’s W16 era
Before the new powertrain reaches customers, Bugatti is building a handful of one-off special editions using its final W16 engines. The newest is pure poetry.
The FKP Hommage honors Ferdinand Karl Piëch. It reimagines the Veyron’s iconic design for the modern era. The car is not a perfect replica. It adds LED lighting and staggered wheel sizes. It also is not a Veyron-themed Chiron.
The designers nailed the 2005 Veyron’s look while updating it tastefully.
Bugatti says the final “new” Veyron was a custom commission and sold before production began. Industry rumors peg the price at $10 million.
There is no official word on the buyer. But there is a compelling theory.
Bugatti previously built La Voiture Noire as a tribute to the 1936 Type 57SC Atlantic. Internet rumors swirled about its owner. The car turned out to be a final design commissioned by Piëch himself.
Piëch died before its completion. Rather than auction the car, his family kept it to honor his legacy. He famously owned a Veyron for himself and another for his enthusiast wife. I like to think the Hommage is for her.
