The fast, powerful, limited edition Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is the ultimate toy for the richest of the rich

By Stephanie Wilson

Work of Art, or Elite Automobile? The Bugatti claims to be both, a traveling “Art on Wheels”, if you please. The name Bugatti is synonymous with automotive excellence, and their latest creation has risen up to the eminence of the Bugatti name.

With the release of this fine automobile, the world can be rest assured that Bugatti is back on the map, after some problems in their production past. The first Bugatti factory closed its doors in 1956 after the death of the founder Ettore Bugatti, but like the legendary Pheonix has risen from the ashes and reopened their doors almost fifty years later, making Molsheim, France once again the hub of the Bugatti world. In 1998, Volkswagen Group acquired the Bugatti trademark, and began working on bringing a new model to life. The end result is Bugatti’s latest creation, the Veyron 16.4, which showcased its many automotive wonders to the 2006 Los Angeles Auto Show during its North American debut last January.

Dr. Thomas Bscher, President of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. said at the show, “We have brought this fascinating super sports car onto the North American Roads, transforming it from a vision to a reality of today’s automotive world… The Bugatti Veyron is the best sports car in the world, a car the likes of which the world has never seen.”

This car is the most powerful (1,001 hp, 16 cylinders, 8-liter engine) and fastest (This baby tops out at an impressive 253 mph!) car in the world. Featuring permanent four-wheel drive, the Veyron can be driven like a “normal” car in day-to-day traffic, which is a heretofore unheard of feat. This is made possible because Veyron 16.4 has to meet all the specifications of the Volkswagen Group. According to the company, “This means innumerable time-consuming trials and tests throughout the entire world, all devoted to the fulfillment of a single objective: To measure up to the strict, indeed relentless quality standards the company has laid down”. In the world of modern, series production automobiles, the synthesis which has been realized in the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is one between easy, problem free operation in daily traffic and breathtaking high-performance driving.”

With less than three hundred of the Veyron 16.4 ever to be made, car collectors should start working on getting their hands on the limited edition as Dr. Bscher described “the gap between myth and vision.” Get yours before that vision can no longer be a reality.