Bugatti. To be No 1
There are sports cars, executive cars, premium-class luxury cars, and there is Bugatti… Exclusive, unique, powerful sports hypercar. The fastest one. And the most expensive one in the world. Bugatti cars always take a special place at motor shows and car dealerships. The place around them is always crowded, and the new cars of the brand are sold long before their official debut. Today, the success of Bugatti is not repeated by any other company. Bugatti car is not a means of transport, but a masterpiece!
Bugatti has built 7500 models - and each one was perfectly assembled, carefully designed, hi-tech for its time, and the most expensive in the world.
Collaboration with Volkswagen
But the Bugatti company has been on the brink of death. The brand was forgotten for a while. But it was reborn again under the leadership of the German Volkswagen concern, the world’s largest carmaker. Probably, only VAG can afford to invest such huge funds in the production of each Bugatti. Despite the wide popularity of the brand, despite the struggle between billionaires and sheiks for each unique model, luxury Bugatti cars become more and more unprofitable for its manufacturer every year. If we consider the popular Veyron, even a multimillion-dollar sales price is only 20-30% of the cost of production, finishing, assembly, and advertising of this car. Analysts have calculated that each car cost the company by almost 7M$.
But French company Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S., owned by Volkswagen, is still hanging on :) The fastest, most unique, most expensive cars of the planet are assembled by only 52 employees of the Bugatti factory - the atelier, as it’s commonly called. Moreover, the production does not have any modern robotics, and the assembly uses a single electric tool - impact wrench. It takes about 2 months to assemble each piece, of which only a week is spent to assemble the chassis. Another 3 weeks are spent on the manual painting of the car in one of 23 possible color options. Production of a Veyron takes even longer because only the production of the radiator takes 15 hours, and the model has ten of them.
The Top Gear program called the Veyron a feat of technology and rated it as the best car of the decade. At the time of production at the end of 2003 Veyron was selling for € 1100000!
Volkswagen worked closely with leading design companies to restore the brand Bugatti to its former glory. In 2000 Volkswagen Group promised that soon the world would see the most powerful and fastest car in the world - Veyron! The Top Gear program called the Veyron a feat of technology and rated it as the best car of the decade. Veyron was equipped with a VR6 / WR8 W16 engine with four turbochargers, which developed 1001 hp. The maximum speed of this car was 407 km/h. The car was equipped with a VR6 / WR8 W16 engine with four turbochargers, which developed 1001 hp. At the time of production at the end of 2003 Veyron was selling for € 1100000!
Handsome Veyron
And this despite the fact that the same Veyron is the most expensive car in the world in terms of cost of ownership because the annual cost of its operation can reach 300,000 $. For example, it’s desirable to change tires every 4 thousand kilometers, and one set of 2s Michelin Pilot Sport, suitable in size and characteristics, costs 42,000 $. Another 69,000 $ will cost replacement of wheel rims, recommended to do every 16 thousand kilometers. The cheapest procedure can be considered an oil change - it will cost only 21,000 $. And this service cost is not surprising. Considering that only a transmission of a Veyron car costs more than the entire Porshe 911 car. And high-quality interior finishing materials cost up to 20 skins of elite alpine cows grazing at the height of 2000 meters.
What does it take to own such a car?
American actor and singer Chris Brown has not regretted the bright red Veyron sports car, which speeds up to 407 km/h, one and a half-million US dollars. Kathy Price, British model and singer, likes pink very much. A car of that color cost her $1.6 million. Solja Boy, American actor, singer, producer, and businessman, not only bought a Bugatti for $1.7 M but even dedicated a song to this car.
the most expensive member of the Bugatti family was the model Type 57SC Atlantic of 1936. It went at auction for $40M to the Mullin Automotive Museum.
Popular TV presenter of American and British shows Simon Cowell bought himself a model for 1.7M $, capable of speeding up to a hundred in 2.5 seconds and developing speed up to 430 km/h. The rapper of The Game gave himself a luxury car for $1.7M for his birthday and then equipped it for another $2.4 million. Another rapper - Flo Rida - ordered a golden car. Moreover, he not only got a gilded body but also installed rims of real 24-carat gold. But the most expensive member of the Bugatti family was the model Type 57SC Atlantic of 1936. It went at auction for $40M to the Mullin Automotive Museum in the US.
Rise of Bugatti
The founder and ideological inspirer of the company were Italian Ettore Bugatti, an engineering genius self-taught, really in love with his brainchild. At 17, he assembled his first tricycle equipped with four motors and won three contests at once. And then in 1909, literally in the basement of his house Bugatti developed his first full-fledged car Type 10. And this Bugatti immediately made an impression! He was truly revolutionary for his time. The rights to its production were immediately bought by the German manufacturer De Dietrich. And the Type 16 Bébé was licensed to Peugeot. And Type 13 won the Car Cup in Le Mans in 1920.
The company became Ettore’s life. It continued to work for its prosperity in all circumstances. For example, less than four months after the end of the First World War, three Bugatti cars were in a showroom in Paris, though mostly assembled from pre-war materials. Each subsequent model of the manufacturer had incredible potential and exceeded its time. Ettore Bugatti equipped cars with powerful engines, so they managed to win many races.
Bugatti cars were not released from 1952 to 2000. The brand was reborn after VAG had acquired it.
In 1929, Bugatti won the first prize of the Grand Prix in Monaco. And then the prizes just did not end! The cars of the famous series Type35 won over 2000 victories! 5 years in a row Bugatti won the Targa Florio race. In 1937, Type 57 won the 24-hour Le Mans race, beating famous competitors such as Alfa Romeo and Lagonda.
But, the irreparable thing happened. In 1939, Bugatti’s son, Jean, died in a car accident. Eight years later, Ettore Bugatti died as well. With his death, all the great plans to produce new types of cars became unfeasible. Gradually, the business fell into decline, In 1952 the company almost ceased its activities. For many years, the Bugatti brand practically fell out of the history of the automotive industry and did not let itself be known. By 1998, Volkswagen acquired the right to manufacture Bugatti cars. They had already acquired Lamborghini and Bentley. So, it was predicatable that Volkswagen acquired Bugatti too.
Modern supercars
In 2013 at the Geneva Motor Show was presented Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse roadster was recognized as the fastest and most powerful open-top car in the world. Its 16-cylinder engine reaches a speed of 400 km/h. In 2016 Bugatti Chiron, the successor of Bugatti Veyron was presented. It’s equipped with an 8.0-L ATV W16 engine with an output of 1500 hp, and its acceleration speed to 100 km/h is only 2.4 seconds! In the European Union, prices for the model in 2016 started from €2.5M.
In 2018, a supercar Bugatti Divo appeared, which received a completely new body. The manufacturers made the model as light as possible and track-oriented. Totally 40 cars of Divo came off the assembly line. In 2019 another Bugatti was released – La Voiture Noire. It became a modern interpretation of the famous Type 57SC Atlantic. And it has been considered the most expensive car in the world, as it was sold to a collector, whose name is not disclosed, for 11M euros. In fact, this car has not yet been built. At the Geneva Motor Show, only a sample of it was presented. Presumably, a complete hypercar will appear in 2021.
Bugatti La Voiture Noire, the modern interpretation of the famous Type 57SC Atlantic, has been considered the most expensive car in the world. It was sold to a collector, whose name is not disclosed, for 11M euros.
Another model from 2019, the Bugatti Centodieci, is a tribute to the historic EB 110. Limited to 10 cars, it’s based on Chiron. The Bugatti Centodieci received its own bodywork and evolutionary four-cylinder W16 engine with an output of 1578 hp. And another Bugatti model - Chiron Super Sport 300+ made its debut not so long ago. It’s a road version of Chiron Super Sport, which set the speed record at Nurburgring. At the moment, 30 cars of the model have already been booked, and its production has not yet started.
Today Bugatti cars are a symbol of exclusivity, elegance, and luxury style, combining bold technological solutions and unique design. Bugatti not only amaze the imagination, but they are also the very beauty and perfection, a true art!
