1927 Bugatti 35b Replica on 2040-cars

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Check out the classic cars that the Bugatti Tourbillon traces its roots to

MOLSHEIM, France — Bugatti unveiled the new, 1,800-horsepower Tourbillon at its historic headquarters in Molsheim, France. While the Chiron's successor was the uncontested star of the show, the brand displayed an impressive selection of classics to give attendees a glimpse into every facet of its past. The roster included grand prix-winning race cars, ultra-luxurious sedans, elegant coupes, and even a small, city-friendly electric car. Enthusiasts tend to associate the Bugatti name with hypercars, but there's more to the brand than four-digit horsepower figures and speed records. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the company made one of the most luxurious cars in the world: the Type 41, which is also known as the Royale. It stretched 252 inches from bumper to bumper in its longest configuration (several body styles were available) and its wheelbase measured nearly 170 inches; I've owned cars that were shorter than that. Power came from a 12.8-liter straight-eight engine. Pictured in our gallery above, the example Bugatti displayed at the Tourbillon unveiling features 24-inch wheels, the famous "Dancing Elephant" hood ornament, and a closed rear cabin with windows made of reinforced glass. The front compartment is always open, and the rear passengers could talk to the driver using an intercom system called a Motor Dictograph. The behemoth of an engine made about 300 horsepower at 1,800 rpm, which was enough to unlock a top speed of about 124 mph — that was a supercar-worthy figure a century ago. Bugatti has explored the more family-friendly side of its heritage on several occasions over the past few decades, though none of its projects have reached production. In the 1990s, when the brand was owned by Romano Artioli and based in Italy, it experimented with a Giorgetto Giugiaro-designed super-sedan called EB112 and powered by a 6.0-liter V12. In 1999, after joining the Volkswagen Group, Bugatti showed a four-door, W18-powered concept called EB218. Ten years later, the 16C Galibier made its debut as a potential follow-up to the Veyron. Racing has been part of Bugatti's DNA for over 100 years; it has won major events like the Targa Florio and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Four vintage race cars illustrated this part of its heritage at the unveiling, including a surprisingly futuristic model from 1923 called Type 23 and nicknamed Tank. Take a look at its bodywork and you'll immediately understand why.

Watch a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport hit 246 mph during road rally

The Bugatti Veyron might be getting on in years, but it's still an engineering marvel capable of truly insane velocity. There are tons of videos of the Veyron doing its super-high-speed trick of reaching 200 miles per hour with seemingly no effort. But do you know how much ground the coupe is actually covering at full chat? Let's just say it's mighty impressive.
According to the YouTube description, this video was shot at the 2014 Sun Valley Road Rally in Idaho. The event shut down a portion of highway and allowed cars to hurtle down that stretch at ludicrous speeds, and a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport with 1,200 horsepower on hand showed the crowd what fast really looked like. Thankfully, the organizers monitored the vehicles' speed, confirming that this supercar managed a massive 246.4 miles per hour.
The way that the Veyron reaches that momentum is just as impressive, though. At first, all you see is a fast-moving white spec, but it doesn't sound like a car. It has more of the constant note of a jet but with a little audible grumble as it streaks by. Scroll down to see what nearly 250 mph looks like on a deserted stretch of highway.

Bugatti EB 110-based SP-110 Edonis is back from the dead

When Bugatti went belly up in the mid 1990s, a group of former employees founded B Engineering. At the time, Bugatti was building the EB 110, a supercar whose performance and power ratings would shame most cars on the road today. Just 139 EB 110s were built between 1991 and 1995, but now the car has made a return. Sort of. Casil Motors has announced a 15-model run of the SP-110 Edonis Fenice, a EB 110-based supercar with sleepy-eyed styling and an updated powertrain. The history of the car is a bit convoluted. In the late 1980s, Bugatti was purchased by Romano Artioli. By 1991, the company was back to producing cars with the EB 110. It was a monster that was about as far ahead of its contemporaries as the Bugatti Chiron is today. The EB 110 packed a 550 horsepower quad-turbo 3.5-liter V12. It sent power to all four wheels through a six-speed manual transmission and hit 60 mph in just 3.2 seconds on the way to a top speed of 216 mph. Few cars short of the McLaren F1 could touch it. The car wasn't enough to prevent Bugatti from filing for bankruptcy by 1995. Volkswagen purchased it in 1998. Artioli and a group of former engineers eventually founded B Engineering. They purchased the remaining EB 110 components and revealed the EB 110-based Edonis on Jan. 1, 2000. It ditched the all-wheel drive and increased the power, but further details on changes are vague. The car never made it to production. Recently, Las Vegas-based Casil Motors stepped in to finish what B Engineering started. The car you see here is called the SP-110 Edonis Fenice. Underneath the aluminum bodywork you'll find the carbon-fiber monocoque from an EB 110. The engine is a 3.8-liter version of the EB 110's V12. It has been cranked to 720 horsepower, and the quad-turbo setup was ditched for two large-displacement turbos. Casil Motors says the car can hit 60 mph in 3.4 seconds (slower possibly because of the rear-drive setup), 100 mph in 8.2 seconds and has a top speed of more than 220 mph. It still uses a six-speed manual transmission. Casil Motors is offering a range of options, from a stripped-down track version to a kitted-out luxury model. The optional Rinascita Aero Package fixes some of the car's questionable styling choices. Only 15 will be built. Pricing hasn't been announced, but Casil Motors is requiring a $2,500 deposit. Don't expect this to be cheap. A clean EB 110 GT is going up for auction in March for nearly $1 million.