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Carsales Staff13 Apr 2013
NEWS

SHANGHAI MOTOR SHOW: Bugatti claims world's fastest drop-top

Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse World Record Edition to be the planet's fastest convertible

Days after being stripped of its 'fastest production car' title by Guinness World Records, exotic car marque Bugatti has launched the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse World Record Edition, which it claims is the world's fastest drop-top.

Before being unveiled to the public at the Shanghai motor show next month, the 8.0-litre 16-cylinder quad-turbo Bugatti was put through its paces at Volkswagen's high-speed testing facility in Ehra-Lessien in Germany, where the company claims it reached 408.84km/h.

Though the Guinness World Records company has yet to vouch for Bugatti's claim, the 408km/h-plus speed would make the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse the fastest production convertible in existence.

Bugatti says the jaffa-coloured 883kW/1500Nm two-seat carbon-fibre convertible's astonishing top speed was verified instead by TÜV, the "renowned independent German organisation for Technical Inspection and Certification", to use Bugatti's words.

The Vitesse drop-top exoticar is very similar to the Veyron Grand Sport that broke the Guinness World Record for 'fastest production car' in 2010, except that has a removable roof, a special roof spoiler and an aerodynamic windbreak.

The Italian convertible generates the same tyre-frying power as the coupe version and uses the same seven-speed twin-clutch transmission and all-wheel system to reach 100km/h from rest in an eye-watering 2.6 seconds.

The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse's "record breaking" speed was achieved by a 29-year-old driver, Chinese entrepreneur Anthony Liu, who said that even at high speeds the car was composed and comfortable.

"With an open top, you can really experience the sound of the engine and yet even at higher speeds I did not get compromised by the wind at all," said Liu.

Bugatti president Dr Wolfgang Schreiber made no mention of Guinness World Records revoking the Veyron coupe's 'fastest production car' status, instead praising the Vitesse for its technological prowess.

"When we introduced the Vitesse, we established the top speed for open-top driving to be 375km/h. Still, we could not let go of the idea of reaching the 400km/h mark with this car as well," said Dr Schreiber.

"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," he said.

Just eight of the Bugatti Veyron World Record Car Edition vehicles will be built, priced at an astounding $2.47 million (€1.99 million). It will be revealed publicly at the Shanghai motor show on April 19.

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Written byCarsales Staff
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