Friday 29 May 2009

BUGATTI BEGINS PRODUCTION ON €1.4 MILLION GRAND SPORT





Bugatti has begun producing the Veyron Grand Sport at its plant in Molsheim, France. The Grand Sport is the topless version of the hypercar with the same name. Those wishing to have their name placed on the list will have to come up with €1.4 million (about R15.7 million today). It will also help to own a Veyron already because the first 50 units to come off the production line are for these folks. The rest, all 100 of them, may already be spoken for.


The roof is completely removable which means it will not go where the car goes. Should it rain while the drive is under way a soft cover like an umbrella that’s stored in the storage compartment can be employed. This will allow the Grand Sport to travel up to 130km/h with that roof.


In any case it’s good to revise some of the numbers involved in this technical marvel on four wheels. The engine is an 8-litre 16-cylinder nuclear unit with four turbochargers. Maximum thrust is 747kW while torque is 1250Nm. Bugatti says the Veyron will accelerate from 0 – 100km/h in under 3 seconds (Autocar did 2.5 seconds in 2005) and the top end is 407km/h.


I’m told there is a Veyron in South Africa, somewhere down in the Cape area owned by a very rich guy who used to sell cigarettes...