The rakish Veyron Grand Sport 'roadster'

Lifestyle

The rakish Veyron Grand Sport 'roadster'

BY MARK MAYNARD

Friday, July 24, 2009

How does an automaker sell a US$2.1 million convertible in this economy? If it is Bugatti, it takes its rakish Veyron Grand Sport "roadster" on a month-long tour to its 11 dealerships in the United States. It then invites select media for a test drive and potential owners to an open-car "experience" at the dealerships. But only those very likely to buy the car get to drive it.

The Grand Sport is the continuation of the Veyron hardtop that launched in 2006. So far there have been 224 deliveries of the coupe out of 250 orders in a total production of 300.

It is the power, the sound and the concept-car styling that explain why people will pay $2 million for a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. (Photo AP)

Grand Sport production is limited to 150, and even that is a lot for a car expected to become a collectible, if not a financial investment.

Allocation for the United States is about one-third of the total production. Worldwide there were 30 orders a few weeks ago. Each order is reserved by a deposit representing one-third of the cost of the car.

Of course there are options for paint and leather. Some buyers in the Middle East prefer gold plating, which could add $500,000 to the price, spokeswoman Emanuella Wilm said. The freight charge from the Bugatti assembly facility in Molsheim, France, is $51,000.

West Coast collectors said an enthusiast in Southern California owns three coupes, each in a different, but traditional, two-tone Bugatti colour scheme. That owner has a convertible on order. Not surprisingly, this globally connected owner was out of the country for my inquiries, and likely wouldn't have talked with me, anyway, the collectors said.

Order time is running 10 to 12 months, and it takes five weeks to build the car. Each is hand-assembled with most parts unique to Veyron, pronounced in the nasally French tone as "vay-ROHN".

Bugatti Automobiles is a recreation of the brand by Volkswagen Group, which took charge in 1999. Though the Veyron drives with the precision of Audi engineering, the company insists there is no crossover between Audi engineering and Bugatti, though the engineers are based in Wolfsburg, Germany.

The intent, however, is to extend the legacy of Bugatti. The car is named for Pierre Veyron, a Grand Prix racer best remembered for his 1939 win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving a Bugatti Type 57 with Jean-Pierre Wimille.

"Everything we put into this car has the same emphasis on advanced technology and materials that (company founder) Ettore Bugatti applied when he was building cars (in the 1920s)," Wilm said. "Everything is single and unique, compared with other such cars."

VW Group CEO Ferdinand Piech set the standards of horsepower and top speed for the Veyron, "then it had to be done", Wilm said.

The design came from a concept car, and like most concepts it was not built from an existing platform. Everything was especially created for the Veyron, though I'd expect there must be some under-the-skin VW-Audi components.

Veyron is an all-wheel-drive supercar. Its eight-litre "W16"engine - two V-8s together - is rated for 1,001 horsepower on 93 octane. Use 91 octane and horsepower plunges to a paltry 850. The engine uses four turbochargers, 10 radiators, 64 valves, four camshafts and gets about 10 mpg combined in daily driving, 14 on a good day.

Carbon-ceramic disc brakes have 15.75-inch rotors front, 15-inch rear, activated by eight-piston calipers in front and six rear.

This two-seater will do 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds. The top speed of 253 mph is restricted by a lockout key that must be activated before turning on the car. The key activates a series of aerodynamic adjustments to prevent lift off.

For the roughly $300,000 difference in starting prices for the coupe and convertible, the Grand Sport has some noteworthy reinforcements of aircraft-grade carbon fibre and ultralightweight metals. The windshield pillars, doors and side-impact beams are carbon fibre. There are carbon-fibre hoops in the prominently placed air intakes above the engine, which are intended to provide some protection in the event of rollover. The transmission tunnel is wrapped in carbon fibre. The hood and deck are carbon fibre. The rest of the body is aluminum, except for the titanium deck wing, which rises automatically at 110 mph. Engine mounts are stainless steel.Because there is a big engine behind the seats, the Grand Sport has no trunk area to retract a roof, so the convertible effect is by a transparent polycarbonate roof panel. Air flow isn't bad at legal speeds. But at 34 pounds the lid requires two people to remove; and have mercy on the individual who drops the roof or dings the windshield header or body.

There really is no other production car to compare with the Veyron. Perhaps the Ferrari Enzo, no longer in production, or the McLaren SLR, Lamborghini Murcielago or a few other hand-assembled, superexpensive supercars.

Even concourse-class automotive enthusiasts step back and honour the Veyron.

"It is the absolute finest car ever built," said Bill Evans, a hotelier in San Diego who also maintains a private museum of world-class automobiles.

"If you put a McLaren next to a Veyron and give the McLaren a 100 mph head start, the Bugatti will beat it to 200," Evans said.

"In my lifetime, I don't think there will be anything produced again of this magnitude."

Master engineer Jens Schulenberg travels with the car on its tours for test drives. He's driven this car more than anybody, even the race drivers the company uses to test the car.

"I like that when you kick the Veyron, it kicks back," Schulenberg said during a visit to Symbolic Motors in the upscale San Diego community of La Jolla.

And it will kick when provoked. Steering and brakes require minimal inputs. The steering weight is light but communicative. The seven-speed automated manual transmission is best enjoyed by shifting manually.

Get too hard on the throttle when in Drive and the turbos cram force-fed air into the 16 cylinders, the transmission drops two gears and a cannon blast of power kicks out the rear end of the car. It's fun, the second time, when you know what to expect.

And what a sound. The rush of air into the polished intakes just behind the heads of occupants sounds more like something from Boeing than a car. As the turbos spin up power, the car moves forward with the whine and thrust of a jet.

With a 41.7-foot turning circle, this car is also best enjoyed on a blast through the countryside. Side views are suggestions, but backing is helped somewhat by a rearview camera.

But it is the power, the sound and the concept-car styling that are remembered and why people will pay $2 million for two seats with a view.

The price is ridiculous for those struggling with devalued 401(k) accounts, but the average household income for the Bugatti purchaser is $20 million to $200 million and more.As a percentage of your net worth, the cost of this car is substantially less than what the average family must budget for a minivan.

Mark Maynard is driving in cyberspace at mark.Maynard@uniontrib.com.

SPECS BOX

2009 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport

Body style: two-seat, all-wheel-drive sports car with removable roof panelEngine: 1,001-horsepower, 8.0-litre W16Transmission: seven-speed direct-shift gearbox (automated manual)EPA fuel economy estimates: 10 mpg combined city/highway; 93 octane recommendedFuel capacity: 26.4 gallonsLength/wheelbase: 175.6/78.6 inchesCurb weight: 4,387 pounds

PERFORMANCE0-62 mph: 2.7 seconds0-125 mph: 7.3 seconds0-188 mph: 16.7 secondsTop speed: 253 mph, roof on; 223 mph roof off

Braking distance: 62 to 0 mph, 103 feet

PRICINGBase: $2.1 million, including $51,000 freight chargeWhere assembled: Molsheim, France.

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