A Deeper look into the Car of the Decade 2000 - 2009
This sensational vehicle has been perfected over time, along the beautiful landscapes that have changed the lives of so many.
The car...Bugatti!
The Founder... Ettore Bugatti, was born in Milan, Italy, and his automobile company was founded in 1909 in Molsheim, Alsace.
The company, known both for the level of detail of its engineering, and for the artistic way in which the designs were
executed, enjoyed great success in early Grand Prix Motor Racing, winning the first ever Monaco Grand Prixx. The company's success culminated with driver Jean-Pierre Wimille winning the 24 hours of Le Mans twice (in 1937 with Robert Benoist and 1939 with Pierre Veyron).
Given the artistic nature of Ettore's family (his father,
Carlo Bugatti (1856–1940), was a devoted art, nouveau decoration, furniture, and jewelry tradesman).
In 1999, the Bugatti EB 218 concept was introduced at the Geneva Auto Show; later that year the Bugatti 18/3 Chiron was introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA). At theTokyo Motor Show, the EB 218 reappeared, and theBugatti EB 16.4 Veyron was presented as the first incarnation of what was to be a production road car.
Bugatti's cars noticeably focused on design. Engine Blocks were hand scraped
to ensure that the surfaces were so flat that gaskets were not required
for sealing, many of the exposed surfaces of the engine compartment
featured Guilloche
(engine turned) finishes on them, and safety wires threaded through
almost every fastener in intricately laced patterns. Rather than bolt
the springs to the axles
as most manufacturers did, Bugatti's axles were forged such that the
spring passed though a carefully sized opening in the axle, a much more
elegant solution requiring fewer parts. He famously described his arch
competitorentley's cars as "the world's fastest lorries" for focusing on durability. According to Bugatti, "weight was the enemy".
The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engine grand touring car. The Super Sport version is the fastest road-legal manufactured car in the world, with a top speed of 431 km/h (268 mph). The original type has a high-speed of 408.00 km/h (253.52 mph).
It was named Car of the Decade (2000–2009) by the BBC television programme Top Gear.
Designed and developed by Volkswagen Group and produced by Bugatti Automobiles SAS at their HQ in Château Saint Jean inMolsheim (Alsace, France), the Veyron's chief designer was Hartmut Warkuss, and the exterior was finished by Jozef Kaban of Volkswagen, with much of the engineering supervised by the former Peterbilt
Trucks engineer and now Bugatti Engineering chief, Wolfgang Schreiber.
Though commissioned by Volkswagen, this car is only sold through the
Bugatti manufacturers and cannot be found at any Volkswagen dealer.
