Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Live from Greenwich: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport


Today, we're bringing you our exclusive photos from our three-hour tour, brought to you in conjunction with our partners over at TheCarConnection.com. Tomorrow, we'll have a full MotorAuthority.com test drive, and later this month we'll bring you the latest photos of the new Grand Sport from the Pebble Beach Concours.


It's the Bugatti Veyron 16.4. Or, rather, the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, the targa-topped version of the singular two-seat coupe that's been around since 2005 with its 987-horsepower, quad-turbocharged, W-16 engine, dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive.


It's the most powerful passenger car on the planet. Also, one of the fastest. And the most likely to bankrupt small South American nations forced to decide between it and, say, a military.


It's also the most expensive car ever tested by the scribes here at MotorAuthority. We had the special opportunity last week to drive the Grand Sport, in advance of a special edition to come at the Pebble Beach Concours. Bugatti's U.S. sales arm provided us with a silver example for three hours in Greenwich, Connecticut, along with their U.S. marketing manager John Hill and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to teleport past Honda Accords on the Merritt Parkway.


Then, in September, Bugatti will be showing a new concept--a secret project car that's meant for clients' and dealers' eyes only. That concept won't be coming to the Frankfurt auto show as other sites have reported, but we'll be glued to the Web in case cell phone pics or video leak out. We're also planning on a special trip to Molsheim for the 100th anniversary of the Bugatti brand.


more detail. ...