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The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is the most powerful, most expensive, and
fastest street-legal production car in the world, with a proven top
speed of over 400 km/h (407 km/h or 253 mph). It reached full production
in September 2005. The car is built by Volkswagen AG subsidiary Bugatti
Automobiles SAS and is sold under the legendary Bugatti marque. It is
named after racing driver Pierre Veyron, who won the 24 hours of Le Mans
in 1939 while racing for the original Bugatti firm.
History
Development of the vehicle began with the 1999 EB 18/3 "Veyron" concept
car. Introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show, it was similar in design and
appearance to the final Veyron production car. One major difference was
the EB 18/3's use of a W18 engine with three banks of six cylinders. The
Veyron was designed by Hartmut Warkuss of Volkswagen rather than
Giorgetto Giugiaro of ItalDesign who had handled the three prior Bugatti
concepts.
VW chairman Ferdinand Piëch announced the production Veyron at the 2001
Geneva Motor Show. It was promised to be the fastest, most powerful, and
most expensive car in history. Instead of the W18, the production model
would use a VR6/WR8-style W16 engine. First seen in the 1999 Bentley
Hunaudières concept car, the W16 would get four turbochargers, producing
a quoted 1001 horsepower (see engine section for details on the power
output). Top speed was promised at 403 km/h (250.4 mph), and pricing was
announced at €1 million (US$1.3 million at the time).
Development continued throughout 2001 and the EB 16/4 Veyron was
promoted to "advanced concept" status. In late 2001, Bugatti announced
that the car, officially called the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, would go into
production in 2003. However, the car experienced significant problems
during development. Achieving the required high-speed stability was
difficult - one prototype was destroyed in a crash and another spun out
during a public demonstration at the Monterey Historics event in Mazda
Raceway at Laguna Seca. Production of the Veyron was delayed pending
resolution of these and other issues.
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