Envisioned by landmark engineer and Volkswagen Group automotive executive Ferdinand Piëch at the dawn of the new millennium, the development of the Bugatti Veyron was one of the greatest technological challenges ever known in automotive history. The benchmark for the engineers in Molsheim had been to create the ultimate luxury hypercar, a 16-cylinder marvel boasting over a 1.000 horsepower, reaching a top speed above 400 km/ and accelerating from 0 to 100 in under three seconds. Even experts thought it was impossible to achieve these performance specs on the road – but when the production-ready Bugatti Veyron 16.4 was unveiled in Molsheim in September 2005, the dream had become a reality.
The car’s 8.0-litre 16-cylinder engine with four turbochargers would provide the hyper sports car with 1,001 PS and a 1,250 newton metres of torque. In April the same year, the car had reached a top speed of 407 km/h on Volkswagen’s test track in Ehra-Lessien. The arrival of the Bugatti Veyron caused a stir like no other automobile in history, with the notoriously critical Top Gear team voting it to be the car of the decade. Between 2005 and 2015, 450 Bugatti Veyrons were produced, including even faster and more exclusive special editions like the Super Sport – a track-focused 1.200 horsepower beast that looked similar to the classic Veyron in shape, but was basically an entirely different creature developed by test driver Loris Bicocchi. When production finally ceased, Bugatti had created another milestone in automotive history – pushing the benchmark beyond the imaginable and starting the hypercar game that we know today.
Last week, our friends from the luxury gentlemen's fashion brand Larusmiani in Milan kicked off the 20th anniversary year of the Bugatti Veyron in impeccable style, as they paraded not one, but four of the iconic hypercars through the city’s glamorous Via Montenapoleone district for a night-time photo shoot. After all, Ettore Bugatti himself was born in Milan, so there could not have been a better place to start the celebrations. The line-up included one of the first Veyrons and three Super Sports versions: the first SS sported a body of full blue visible carbon, a black interior and polished wheels. The second car was painted all black, but with visible carbon elements on the hood, roof, engine compartment and spoiler. The third car was painted in Bright White with Pearl Night Blue accents and featured a striking a full leather interior in Indigo Blue with sections in Pebble Beach Blue.
This white-and-blue Bugatti Veyron Super Sport – which is rightfully considered to be the ultimate model of the Veyron breed, the pinnacle – is now on display in the window of Larusmiani’s famous automotive gallery. So if you are in Milan in the coming weeks, don’t miss out on your chance to marvel at this milestone creation – and whistle a little birthday song for one of the greatest feasts in automotive history.
Photos: Andrea Luzardi
