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Michael Taylor4 Mar 2015
NEWS

GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Bugatti Veyron La Finale

Goodbye Veyron, but Durheimer promises the Bugatti story will get even faster

Wolfgang Durheimer has promised that the successor to Bugatti's legendary Veyron will be even faster and even more powerful.

Speaking at the Geneva Motor Show, the Bugatti President promised the brand's comeback story would not finish with the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse La Finale, the 450th and final Veyron.

"We are looking forward to an exciting future," Durheimer said.

"After finishing the Veyron production we are preparing another top story in the automotive industry."

With the 10-year Veyron story due to end with delivery of the show stand's La Finale to a Middle Eastern buyer, Bugatti has already figured out how to move forward – and it won't be with the once-hyped Galibier four-door sedan.

It won't be with electric power, either, and it will still be based around the Veyron's quad-turbo W12 petrol engine, which delivered old-school horsepower in its ultimate guise.

"With the next Bugatti we will underpin our claim to leadership. We will use the potential of our W12 motor," Durheimer insisted.

"It will be more powerful, it will be faster and I can guarantee it will be more breathtaking.

"The next Bugatti will continue to be an exotic car that is authentic in every way."

More breathtaking is a big statement to make, given that the 883kW Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse La Finale is capable of hitting 100km/h in 2.5 seconds and reaches out to 410km/h.

"The Bugatti Veyron has shown that our engineers are capable of achieving a previously unimagined level of technical excellence, thereby opening up whole new dimensions in the automotive sector," Durheimer said.

"With a world record speed of 431.072 km/h, it has become an icon of longitudinal dynamics."

"The development of the Bugatti Veyron represented one of the greatest technical and engineering challenges ever overcome in the automotive history.

"At the time, Bugatti developers were faced with four key specifications: the car had to transfer more than 1000 PS onto the road, achieve a top speed in excess of 400 km/h, accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in less than three seconds and – the biggest challenge of all – still be suitable for 'driving to the opera' in comfort and style."

The 1888kg carbon-fibre monster will end production with 300 coupes on the road and 150 roadsters, leaving Bugatti as a brand without a saleable car. For now.

Bugatti is not saying how much its buyer paid for Chassis Number 450, but most recent new Veyron Roadsters have averaged a purchase price of around €2.3 million (AUD $3.3 million).

The 8.0-litre, W16 mid-mounted motor used four turbochargers, though the narrow vee angles (it was, effectively, two W8 engines stuck together) meant it only used four camshafts.

Even with its introductory power output, the car still managed to smash beyond 100km/h in 2.6 seconds, beyond 200km/h in seven seconds and past 300km/h in 15 seconds. It kept going (after you'd stopped and inserted its go-nuts key to reduce drag) to a top speed limited to 407km/h – a number less arbitrary than most knew.

"So far no other car maker has managed to successfully market a product that stands for unique top-class technical performance and pure luxury in a comparable price/volume range," says Dürheimer. "This is an incredible success for Bugatti."

"Alongside the certainty of owning the world's fastest production sports car with a high degree of individual exclusivity, Bugatti customers appreciate that, by purchasing a Veyron, they become part of the history of an automobile brand that is steeped in tradition. Many vehicles therefore find their way into private collections and are purchased as an investment by automotive connoisseurs."

Durheimer explained the final Veyron's red carbon-fibre bodywork was inspired by the very first Veyron and it produced more than 100 colours for its Veryons over its production run.

More 2015 Geneva Motor Show news here

Full photo gallery of Geneva Motor Show

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Written byMichael Taylor
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