Why are we not surprised? The Bugatti Veyron debuted as the pinnacle of automobile engineering and pushed the envelope so far, it required air mail clearance.
The target of 250 miles an hour was done and dusted when the Veyron posted over 407 km/h (253 mph) at Volkswagen’s Ehra-Lessien test track, but the highlight was that the Veyron did it without being a stripped-out, lightweight version of a go-fast car with no frills to talk about. It had air bags and air conditioning and didn’t feel like it being run at its limit while doing so. That’s what set it apart. Post the limited run of the American SSC Ultimate Aero TT which usurped the title with its 256 mph (412 km/h) top speed and limited production run; Volkswagen responded with the Veyron Supersport: a hardcore, super-slippery, higher-speed version with a singular focus of being the fastest production car ever made. Ehra-Lessien was once again the scene of the test and, with the air at its thinnest and the wind speed dropping to its lows, the car set out and blitzed the world speed record; hitting just over 431 km/h (nearly 268 mph) on the average two-way run calculation for the official world record.
History lesson apart, this story is about the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse World Record Edition; a special edition of the car which Volkswagen decided they should make by unscrewing the roof off the sports coupé. Well, to be precise, it’s an even more special edition of that car. The Vitesse was originally intended to have a top whack of 375 km/h; a significant top speed by any stretch of the imagination. But the Germans decided that it could do even more. Now, latest reports from Volkswagen have confirmed that the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse managed to beat 400 km/h around, you guessed it, Ehra-Lessien; with a top speed of 408.84 km/h (254 mph) – making it the fastest open-top sports car in the world.
Dr. Wolfgang Schreiber, President of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S., said, “When we introduced the Vitesse, we established the top speed for open-top driving to be 375 km/h. Still, we could not let go of the idea of reaching the 400 km/h mark with this car as well. The fact that we have succeeded in reaching 408.84 km/h is a thrill for me, and it reaffirms once again that Bugatti is the leader when it comes to technology in the international automotive industry.”
The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse World Record Edition Car will be unveiled to the world at the Shanghai Auto Show 2013 for the very first time. The car will feature the same colors as the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport World Record Edition Car and also the same 8.0-litre, quad-turbo W16 engine with 1,200 PS and 1,500 Nm of torque. The Vitesse World Record Edition will see a run of 8 cars each priced at € 1.99 million (Rs 14 crore).
