Bugatti Type 57, page #21

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2013 Monterey Motorsports Reunion

The entry list for all of the events in this year's Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion totaled 15 single-spaced pages long. That's explains how the field for this past weekend's Trans-Am race contained 41 cars, which is a larger field than ever competed in a real Trans-Am race.
The hero car in the photo above is a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport driven by Bruce Canepa, who won the Group 5A event for 1963-1966 GT Cars over 2500cc. Also on track throughout the day were pre-war racers like a 1932 MG NE and other two-up English entries, the original Morgan 3 Wheeler, sky blue single-seat French competitors like a 1934 Bugatti Type 59, and the high-driving red devils from Alfa Romeo and Maserati. Post-war treats include a BMW M1, Ferrari 250 GTO SWB, and bulbous, Speed Racer-looking Can-Am monsters.
Click on our huge high-res gallery above and enjoy a leisurely stroll back through time.

Bugatti debuts first Veyron Legends model in Pebble Beach

Bugatti has officially debuted the first of its five "Legends" cars, which pay tribute to six of the most revered figures in the French manufacturer's pre-war history. The first, which we detailed a few weeks back, is dedicated to Bugatti's longest-serving test driver, Jean-Pierre Wimille, and is based on the world's fastest convertible - the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse.
Fittingly, it's finished in a paint scheme reminiscent of Wimille's own racer, a 1939 Bugatti Type 57C Tank, which was also on hand for the Monterey debut. Bearing blue carbon fiber and Wimille Bleu paint, it looked striking under the bright blue skies of Monterey. The powertrain, a quad-turbocharged, 16-cylinder monster, will remain unchanged for the Legend cars.
We've got a pair of galleries of the latest limited edition Veyron - up top, we have live shots of the first Legend car, while the bottom are images direct from Bugatti that show the car alongside Wimille's own Type 57C Tank, along with some cool historical images. Check 'em out.

Man rolls $400,000 vintage Bugatti in race, goes for a pint

One of the risks associated with vintage car racing is damaging a rare, priceless piece of automotive history, but we're pretty sure that one recent participant is just happy to be alive. Edmund Burgess, of Lavenham, UK, was participating in the Prescott Speed Hill Climb in Gloucestershire, UK when, according to Car Buzz, the brakes reportedly failed on his 1924 Bugatti Type 13 causing it to go off course and roll over.
With an open cockpit on the car, all that was protecting Burgess were a helmet, goggles and a jacket, and while the video shows that his head came very close to making contact with the wall and ground, and that he was briefly trapped under the car, he fortunately didn't suffer any serious injuries.
Too bad the same can't be said for the Bugatti. The vintage racer, worth an estimated 250,000 British pounds (about $390,000 US), was heavily damaged, but the report says that Burgess is determined to get it fixed and racing again in just eight weeks. So what does a racer do after crashing his rare sports car and live to race another day? Probably the same thing we'd all do. Grab a beer. The video of the crash is posted below.

When a Bugatti Veyron drag races against a Koenigsegg Agera S Hundra, we all win

Want to watch two of the fastest production automobiles in the world line up on an open runway to race? Want to see it happen a whole bunch of times?
We thought so. Featuring the well-known Bugatti Veyron in one lane and the less-well-known but just as impressive Koenigsegg Agera S Hundra - which is powered by the same 1,040-horsepower twin-turbo 5.0-liter V8 engine as other Agera S models, but with some extra lightweight bits along with lots and lots of gold - in the other, you can rest assured that the video down below is full of carbon fiber, booming exhaust notes, turbo whine and asinine acceleration. And, though we won't spoil the results, we think it may be full of surprising victories for those who don't keep tabs on such important figures as power-to-weight ratios and the like...
Now for the disclaimers. Are both drivers aware of how to extract maximum performance from their machines? Are they both in perfect states of tune? Would the result be different from a standing start? Was the fact that the video was shot at Koenigsegg's home track a display of favoritism? Was there a full moon the night before? We have no idea. That said, watching well over 2,000 horsepower line up for a race is nearly always worth watching. So, without further ado, we present the video below.

2013 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este dominated by Ralph Lauren's Bugatti [w/video]

On this past long weekend while Americans were celebrating Memorial Day, the very American Ralph Lauren was cleaning up tidily at this year's Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este in northern Italy on the western shore of Lake Como. It rained the first day on and off and this lowered a little the spirits of the event, but Sunday was a knockout Day Two and, at any rate, nothing put the kibosh on Lauren's 1938 Bugatti winning nearly everything there was to win.
Nothing put the kibosh on Lauren's 1938 Bugatti winning nearly everything there was to win.
Here's the hardware the clothing magnate's $40-million-value Bugatti 57SC Atlantic hauled in: Trofeo BMW Group (this is a BMW Group-sponsored event since 1999) for best in show according to the Jury; Coppa d'Oro Villa d'Este for best in show according to the invited public and press; Trofeo BMW Group Italia for best in show according to the open public on Day Two; Trofeo BMW Group Ragazzi for best in show according to the younguns; best-in-class winner of Class B a.k.a. "Purosangue"; Trofeo Auto & Design special prize for most exciting design according to the Jury.

Veyron and C7 Corvette join cast of Transformers 4

Like the Fast & Furious franchise, the Michael Bay-directed series of Transformers movies has become known as much for its bad acting as its impressive lineup of cars. As filming just started for Transformers 4, Bay's website has confirmed two new cars for the next installment as well as a makeover for everyone's favorite tractor trailer hero, Optimus Prime.
Joining the cast of T4 are a "race-inspired" Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse. While Bay's website did not supply names for either car, Bugatti is reporting on its Facebook page that the Veyron will join the Autobots. Speaking of the good guys, top Autobot Optimus Prime is getting an all-new body based on a Western Star with a gaudy appearance that was seemingly inspired by Trick My Truck - right down to the six smoke stacks and side pipes!

Of course, Dubai Police add Bugatti Veyron to fleet

Well, now it's official: Nobody in Dubai is going to be able to outrun the police. You see, in addition to the Aston Martin One-77, Ferrari FF and Lamborghini Aventador that were already part of its stable of police cars, the constabulary in Dubai have most recently procured a Bugatti Veyron to add to the force. And, since the Veyron is the fastest production vehicle in the world, it'd take something truly special to evade the long arm of the law.
The image you see above was tweeted by Dubai's Chief of Police, and as you can see, it's painted up in the green and white hues we've come to expect from its ilk. We do have to wonder, though, if they drilled holes in the Bugatti's roof for the light bar or if it's held on by suction cups or something else less likely to damage the delicate carbon fiber bodywork...

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport in Fuji Speedway time attack

From the same guys who brought us video of a street-legal Porsche 962C driving through the streets of Japan comes this latest video showing Le Mans-winning pro driver, Seiji Ara, lapping Fuji Speedway in a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. Most of the video centers around Ara's impressions, but there is plenty of great video showing the supercar carving up the track's numerous turns and blasting along its lengthy front straightaway.
Ara says this is the most powerful car he's ever driven, so we imagine it was as much for fun for him to drive as it is for us to watch. During the drive, the camera provides a sense of what it's like to pilot the Veyron on such a challenging track, and you can hear its turbos and wastegates getting a workout. Scroll down to watch this well-shot, well-edited video of Ara and the Veyron lapping Fuji Speedway. Oh, and be sure to stick around for the end, as there's a bonus three-way drag race you won't want to miss.

Guinness reconfirms Bugatti Veyron's world record top speed

After taking last week to review the record category for World's Fastest Production Car, Guinness World Records has reconfirmed that the holder of this hotly contested superlative remains the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.
The Veyron Super Sport set the official record back in 2010 with a Guinness-verified speed of 267.8 miles per hour, but other interested parties have recently contested that record's validity because the Veyron used that day had its speed limiter removed. With the speed limiter in place, the Veyron Super Sport tops out at 258 mph.
Guinness rules state that a record-setting production car must be unchanged from what is available to customers. While some, particularly Hennessey Performance, have claimed that removing the Veyron's speed limiter violated that rule, Guinness has settled the matter by stating that "a change to the speed limiter does not alter the fundamental design of the car or its engine."

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse sets world record for fastest open-top car

Bugatti has come back from losing its "World's Fastest Production Car" title with a new superlative to add to the Veyron's trophy case: World's Fastest Open-Top Production Car. That's right, if you can't beat 'em, take the roof off and join them.
The record of 408.84 kilometers per hour, or 254.04 miles per hour, was set by a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse driven by Chinese racing driver Anthony Liu at Volkswagen Group's proving grounds in Ehra-Lessian, Germany. The speed was measured and verified by the German Technical Inspection and Certification Association, or TÜV.
That last point is important to note, as the kerfuffle over the closed-roof Veyron's record involved the Guinness World Records organization, which both sanctioned the car's world record run back in 2010 and then stripped Bugatti of the title after it was learned the car used to set the record had its speed-limited removed. Also, whereas Guinness calculates a car's speed based on the average of two runs in opposite directions, Bugatti doesn't say what criteria TÜV used to verify and calculate the convertible's speed.