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The legend lives on in Bugatti Black Bess promo clip

To this year's Beijing Motor Show, Bugatti showed up with a special Veyron called Black Bess. It's the fifth in a series of six Legend editions that pay homage to a figure from the Alsatian marque's considerable history - in this case legendary French aviator Roland Garros. Now it's released a promo video showing off the stunning (if mechanically unaltered) black Vitesse roadster.
Not that Bugatti will need any help selling the Black Bess edition, of which only three will be made. Despite their $3 million price tags, Bugatti has sold every one of the previous four Legend runs, helping it move those last examples of the legendary Veyron before it can move on to the next chapter in its history.
Like any other Vitesse, the Black Bess edition packs a 6.0-liter, quad-turbo W16 engine driving 1,184 horsepower to all four wheels. What sets this special edition apart is the lustrous black paint, 24-carat gold accents and uniquely decorated cream leather interior with historic story-boards of classic Bugatti T18 and airplanes on the door panels. All of which may strike you as rather silly, but makes for a rather stunning vehicle highlighted in the video below.

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Venet on display in Beverly Hills

Even if you don't consider yourself an art connoisseur, Bugatti just gave car lovers a great reason to visit the Ace Gallery in Beverly Hills, CA. As a part of an exhibit for French artist Bernar Venet, the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Venet, which was unveiled last year, is also on display.
Although not quite as exciting as a date in the desert with the Lamborghini Veneno, we still hopped at the chance to get an up-close look at this custom Veyron. Venet, who had said that the Veyron is a work of art on its own, decided to put his touch on the car by using Bugatti's engineering equations - all of the mathematical equations and notations make the car look like it was left on the set of A Beautiful Mind.
If you're going to be in Beverly Hills over the next week, perhaps you'd be interested in checking out the Ace Gallery yourself - admission is free. If not, well, we hope the high-res image gallery above proves to be a reasonable alternative. Enjoy.

Bugatti SUV: Call it what you will, it's waiting for a green light

Three years ago, then-Bugatti CEO Wolfgan Durheimer said the hyper-indulgent brand was looking at four different bodystyles for a second model line. He wouldn't identify the styles, but they were thought to be a sedan like the 2009 Galibier concept or 2+2 GT, a less extraterrestrial supercar, an electric car, and an SUV. Some rumors of late suggest plans for a "Royale electric limousine" are in the pipeline. Before that, though, Car magazine says "a crossover-influenced sports car" is only waiting for sign-off from Volkswagen Group execs. As far as we can tell, the phrase "crossover-influenced sports car" is a way to escape calling this reported product an SUV. Remember, brand CEO Stephan Winkelmann said in January that "There will be no SUV from Bugatti" because it didn't fit the Molsheim automaker's heritage and disposition. There could be shades of Italianate wrangling between a boutique brand and a parent company going on here. When ex-Ferrari CEO Luca de Montezemolo said the brand would never build an SUV, he was soon overruled by parent-company CEO Sergio Marchionne. That's how we'll get the Purosangue next year, which the Modena sports car maker calls an FAV, for Ferrari Activity Vehicle. So Luca, with help from the marketing team, was technically correct. Point being that when discussing the shape of the next model, Winkelmann explained needing to balance investment with return, and said, "it's not me to decide." If said proposal gets the green light, it "won't be a traditional SUV." The picture painted is of something like a two-door Lamborghini Urus with a higher seating position, much faster bodywork, and much less weight. Underneath would be a Bugatti platform not shared with the rest of the group. Instead of the 641 horsepower kicked out by the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 in the Urus, the report says Bugatti would inject some sort of electrical assistance to achieve 1,000 hp. Winkelmann is known to be against a hybrid powertrain for the eventual Chiron successor because of the weight and space penalties, but a crossover-like sports car would alleviate those concerns. The form factor would also achieve the more livable brief Bugatti's been talking about for ages, and address global emissions issues such as EV-only zones being proposed in cities around the world. The model would sit "below the Chiron but on top of every other model," and cost less than the $3 million Chiron. Production is said to be capped at 800 units per year.