Bugatti Veyron 16.4, 2006
Bugatti EB Veyron 16.4
Bugatti EB Veyron 16.4•
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Chassis No.: VF9SA15B26M795023
Auction: Monterey 2016
Auction date: August 20, 2016
Lot No.: S91
$1,100,000 | Sold
- Exterior: Silver/Gray
- Interior: Gray
- One owner and 3,839 miles since new
- Quad turbocharged 8.0/1001 HP W16 engine
- 922 lb-ft of torque
- Three coolant radiators
- Twin air-to-liquid intercoolers with heat exchanger
- 7-speed DSG transmission with paddle shifters
- All wheel drive
- Top speed of 253 MPH
- Two tone Sterling Metallic and Graphite Metallic paint
- Premium leather interior
- Alloy interior trim
- Burmester premium stereo
- Double wishbone front and rear suspension
- Speed-responsive rear wing
- Must be sold to an out of state resident or licensed dealer
Bugatti’s Golden Era began haltingly with the early 1920s Brescia sports cars, reached its zenith in the Type 35 Grand Prix cars, the Type 41 "Royale," Type 57 "Atlantic" and Type 55 sports car. It ended abruptly in 1939 when founder Ettore Bugatti died in a road accident, a tragedy that eventuated the company’s demise.
The 1991 EB110 briefly revived the Bugatti name, only to fade with a worldwide recession, but in 2005 the brilliantly engineered Veyron burst onto the scene, the world’s new and undisputed ultimate supercar powered by a 1,001 HP 8-liter W-16 engine with four turbochargers and boasting all-wheel drive, a Godzilla-grade 7-speed paddle-shifted DSG transmission and the highest top speed of any production car.
Suddenly the name Bugatti was once again the subject of breathless reviews and meditations on the Veyron’s mind-bending technical wizardry and performance. “Car and Driver” cheekily referred to the Veyron as Paris Hilton with all-wheel drive, a sudden worldwide media queen whose fame was driven by parent-company Volkswagen’s high-powered P.R. machine. If the Lamborghini Countach was the bedroom poster car of the ‘70s and ‘80s, the Veyron was its overwhelming replacement for the next generation, a car about which everyone knew something, usually beginning with its numbers—especially that beyond-1,000 horsepower quad-turbo W-16, the only one of its kind on Earth.
With launch controls poised, it propels the Veyron to 60 MPH in 2.7 seconds—as long as it takes to read half the words in this sentence. By the time its roiling powerplant has brought the three coolant radiators, air-to-liquid turbo intercoolers and three heat exchangers, and engine, transmission and differential coolers up to peak operating temperatures, the Veyron is blasting along at its world-record 253 MPH top speed under the magic of its key-activated Top Speed mode, which also lowers the car closer to the ground and tilts its rear spoiler slightly into the airstream for added downforce and the resultant increased stability.
At a milder pace, at which the driver can concentrate on something besides monitoring every nuance of a warp-speed trip to infinity and beyond, the Veyron comforts its lucky occupants with the ultimate Grand Touring experience. Designed by Jozef Kaban of Volkswagen under the direction of Ferdinand Piech, the Veyron was named in honor of Pierre Veyron, a Bugatti development engineer, test and race driver and company race driver who, with co-driver Jean-Pierre Wimille, won the 1939 24 hours of Le Mans driving a Bugatti.
Piech’s insistence on maintaining the original prototype’s body design bewildered his engineers, who claimed it would be impossible to meet his performance demands and still manage the immense thermal output of the 4-turbo W-16. However, instilled with the confidence earned by having developed the Porsche 917’s 1,500 HP flat-12 engine for the Can Am racing series, Piech remained resolute, and while not possessed of the beauty of a Ferrari 250 Lusso or a Jaguar XKE, the Veyron certainly suggests Ettore Bugatti’s flamboyant sense of design, drawing the viewer into studied contemplation rather than emotional adoration and evoking such milestones as the charismatic Atalante coupe.
Unconventional? Certainly, but so was the notably eccentric Bugatti himself. This one-owner 2006 Bugatti Veyron’s curvaceous lines are cloaked in two-tone Sterling Metallic and Graphite Metallic paint, complemented inside with a premium leather interior stylishly decorated with brushed alloy bezels, switchgear and detail accents. In the engine-turned console panel are controls for the Airsystem climate controls, power seats and windows and a Burmester premium sound system, all contributing to one of the most sensational motoring experiences possible and all worthy of the Bugatti name.
