Bugatti Veyron Centenaire

New special edition Veyrons influenced by classic Bugatti Type 35 grand prix car

A special edition car is normally the sign of a model at the end of its life, manufacturers clamouring to sell the last few before ushering in a replacement. Not so for Bugatti. It has announced another four unique Veyrons, following on from numerous other special editions and limited colour combinations.

The Veyron Centenaire comes in four different flavours, the full set being revealed at the Concorso d’Eleganza supercar and classic show at Italy’s Lake Como. Each is a one-off, too, making this the rarest of special Veyrons, although it wouldn’t be a surprise if all four fall into the hands of existing Veyron owners.

The less than subtle colour scheme is a mix of garish polished aluminium and one of four hues from Bugatti’s classic Type 35 grand prix car. The latter is perhaps the brand’s defining moment, and its grille and wheels have had subtle influences on the Veyron’s design.

As well as being matched to a particular Type 35, each Veyron Centenaire also represents a driver from Bugatti’s illustrious racing past (2000 wins in ten years). As such, the cars bear the racing colours of each driver’s country as well as having their signature stitched into the headrests.

If you want to be patriotic, pick the green car, which represents England and Sir Malcolm Campbell. You also have the choice of red (Achille Varzi and Italy), blue (Jean-Pierre Wimille and France) and white (Hermann zu Leiningen and Germany).

As you may have guessed from the name, the Veyron Centenaire is celebrating 100 years of Bugatti. There’s more partying to come, too, with the next event at California’s Concours at Pebble Beach on August 16. More special editions? You wouldn’t bet against it…

Zenvo ST1

Madly styled supercar boasts a Veyron-besting 1089bhp and 1055lb ft

Clearly the world doesn't have enough mad hypercars, with the Bugatti Veyron, Ruf CTR3 and TVR Speed 12 clamouring for more competition. It has come in the shape of this, the Zenvo ST1, quite probably the world's first all-Danish car.

It's a rear-wheel-drive coupe, propelled by a mid-mounted 7-litre V8 which boasts a supercharger and turbocharger - making it good for 1089bhp at 6900rpm and a fairly frightening 1055lb ft, which is available from 4500rpm. Whether all of that can be transferred to the tarmac without repercussions is an entirely different matter.

Claimed performance for the 1376kg coupe is 0-62mph in around 3sec, 0-124 in under 9 and an electronically-limited 233mph. That allows it to drive the length of Denmark in 18 minutes, apparently. Mated to that monster engine is a six-speed manual gearbox and a hydraulic limited-slip differential.

The brakes are ventilated discs, covered up by 19in alloys at the front and 20in at the rear, wrapped in Michelin rubber. Ceramic brakes are on the options list, and quite possibly a wise buy to rein in all that grunt. Also on the options list is a roll cage and four-point harnesses, turning this into a pretty extreme trackday car, no doubt.

Development on the ST1 has been ongoing since 2004, with deliveries penned to start in 2009. Just 15 are set to be made, with no price tag quoted. It'll be at least six figures, if not seven we'd imagine.

Bugatti Veyron goes topless

The roof comes off the world's fastest supercar and here are the first pictures...

Auto Express Car Reviews

01st August 2008

The wraps are off a drop-top version of Bugatti's Veyron at last! Called the Grand Sport, the roofless supercar has been in the pipeline for many years and will finally make its official world debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on 16th August.

Featuring a removable roof, the 1,001bhp supercar will certainly offer a wind-in-the-hair experience. Bugatti says it will use "innovative structural solutions" to compensate for the loss of stiffness that comes with chopping the roof off. Other new details include incredible LED lights at the front.

Bugatti will be holding an auction at Pebble Beach allowing mega-rich investors to fight over who gets the rights to own the first model. As for the rest of the limited production run, expect a price tag even larger than that of the £840,000 fixed roof model.