Bugatti is a super brand, an automotive legend, and even if the company has laid dormant from time to time over the last 100 years, it has to celebrate its centennial in a way that lives up to its history and image.
And it's not going to be yet another special edition Veyron. In fact, the car that Bugatti is rumored to be debuting at Geneva next week will carry the name of the event it is meant to mark. According to Autoblog, the car will be named the Centenaire and, although it may be based on the Veyron, it will distinguish itself from Bugatti's standard Veyron 16.4.
How exactly will it do that? By uprating the 8.0 liter, 16 cylinder (W16) quad-turbo Bugatti engine to a Jack Nicholson-in-the-Shining-level of crazy - a maniacal 1350 hp. (The 'standard' Veyron comes with a mere 1001 hp and 1250 Nm of torque. Don't ask how you get to measure that extra horse over the 1000 mark. Just don't.)
Top speed on the Centenaire beats out the discount, pedestrian showroom version of the Veyron 420 km/h (261 mph) to 407 km/h (255 mph).
None of this has been confirmed, of course. But you have to expect VW Group would want to make as much hay as possible out of their ultra-luxury brand's birthday. We'll see what that is exactly next week.
Anthropos
February 25, 2009 3:14 AM
