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| [09 Oct 08] :: Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport is 'car of the year' 2009 |
 The duPont Registry has listed the best cars in eleven categories, and taking the cake for 2009 Car of the Year is the Bugatti Veyron Gran Sport. Other winners, like the ZR1 for Bang for the Buck and Continental Flying Spur Speed for Performance Sedan, make up the usual murderers' row of marques and models. What isn't usual is that in just one year, the total price of all the cars jumped 200% to $4.5 million because of a certain Bug and a Koenigsegg, and that the total horsepower climbed 57%, from 4,276 to 6,723.
Oddly, though, duPont says that the era of hi-po supercars may have peaked, and things could be going green – but neither the list nor the facts on the ground bear it out. Of the eleven cars, only the Tesla and the Ronn Motors Scorpion could be considered green, and one of them doesn't even exist yet. As for the rest, we don't know what the opposite of green is, but none of the nine other cars are expected to have less horsepower in their follow-up guises. Which means there's still time to get some thrills in, as long as you've got at least $110,000 to spend... Check out the full press release on the forum.
Source: autoblog.com |
| [03 Oct 08] :: Bugatti type 35 to fetch 2.5 million GBP |
 The 1928 Type 35B, which competed in the first Monaco Grand Prix and has all its original components, has become the most expensive car of its kind following the private sale in Britain.
The design classic, which also won the demanding Italian road race, Targa Florio, was snapped up by an unnamed 'highly-regarded international collector' after being sold by its previous owner, the former Samsung chairman and billionaire Lee Kun-hee.
Chris Routledge, managing director of London-based Coys auctioneers, said: 'We believe it is the highest price paid for a Bugatti of this type – certainly in Britain and probably in the world.'
'It is an extraordinary piece of engineering. When you open the bonnet it is like looking inside a Swiss watch.'
'Apart from a few charming battle-scars it is exactly as it came out of the Bugatti factory. It still has all its original components and body work, which is highly unusual. It is very exciting to drive. It screams.'
He added: 'It was in Switzerland during the Second World War, which is almost certainly what saved it from being damaged or scrapped and turned into warplanes.'
Prior to Mr Lee, previous owners over the past eight decades included the eccentric British car collector and pilot Hamish Moffat, who died in 2002 aged 71, and Swiss Baron Emmanuel 'Toulo' de Graffenried, who died in January 2007 aged 92.
The car was the work of the brilliant Italian designer, Ettore Bugatti, whose factory in Alsace, France, earned him a reputation as the greatest maker of racing cars until his fellow Italian Enzo Ferrari began to dominate the scene in later years.
Despite the Bugatti's high price tag, the most expensive car is still thought to be a black Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder bought by the BBC Radio 2 presenter, Chris Evans, earlier this year for GBP 5,089,280.
Ian Patton, general manager of the Bugatti Owners' Club, said: 'Cars of this type are very highly sought-after by collectors. There aren't that many of them around and, because of the way there were designed and built for racing, each of them is unique.'
Mike Goodbun, deputy editor of Classic Cars magazine, said: 'It is harder to verify prices in private sales rather than auctions but certainly this car is regarded as one of the finest of its kind and it is no surprise that someone is willing to pay for it.'
'In the current economic climate it is a good investment as it is unlikely to depreciate in value.'
Source: the Daily Telegraph.
More info: Next issue of "Octane magazine" in stores from the 29th of October. |
| [01 Oct 08] :: Bugatti display at Geneva Classics |
 At this years Geneva Classics the Swiss Bugatti club will display a collection of Bugattis from the 20's and 30's, as can be read on the show website www.geneva-classics.ch
The prestigious Bugattis will be presented this year in the Swiss racing colours of red and white, as they were all raced by Swiss drivers in many different European rallies and racing championships. |
| [10 Sep 08] :: Server move: expect some downtime |
 As some of you know I bought a new house, and after redecorating, a new kitchen and and a new bathroom (still on the TODO list) it is time to move from the old house. (which will be transferred to the new owner on the 15th of September.)
So I have to physically move the server to the new house, which will be done on Friday the 12th.
Problems that might occur:
-a new IP addres, which will render the new server unreachable for 1 hour to 48 hours (depending on your ISP)
-a not yet active internet connection on my side. My isp SHOULD activate it on friday, but you will never know...
Anyhow, bear with me, the site will be online again ASAP, and I will make notice of it by sending all forum members a mail. (good idea to register on the forum now!) |
| [02 Sep 08] :: Bugatti Veyron crash |
 This is the second known crash of a Bugatti Veyron. A driver lost control in a long curve: The report is as follows:
The supercar looks to have mowed down a large section of hedge-row before finally coming to a stop in a field completing a 180 degree spin. Details are scarce but it appears the driver lost control on a long curve in West Berkshire, UK. From the pictures it's difficult to tell how badly damaged the car is and whether it's repairable, it certainly looks worse that the last one.
Find all the photos here.
Discuss this article on the forum. |
| [31 Aug 08] :: Pictures of the Concours Elegance at Palace 'Het Loo' |
 Last weekend the Concours Elegance at Palace 'Het Loo' took place. This Concours consisted of an auction, a concours, and most interesting, sprints. These sprints show the real spirit of the exhibited cars. The sprints are held on a short stretch (some 250 meters) and are from standing start to standing finish, which means the cars need to break as hard as they can, to finish. (the clock is stopped when the car has stopped).
Photo Gallery
Forum thread |
| [24 Aug 08] :: Future plans of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. |
 Bugatti boss Dr Franz-Josef Paefgen has said that the company will replace the Veyron supercar around 2012 with another ultra high-end model. The confirmation confounds previous speculation that Bugatti would be wound-up when Veyron production comes to an end.
'We will be staying on top of everybody else and we will not be producing a smaller, or cheaper car and we will not be moving volumes up. Bugatti customers are very extreme people' he told Autocar.
Paefgen said that Bugatti hasn't finally decided on the new model. One high-level source told us that the company was considering a second model line possibly a luxury saloon to rival the Rolls-Royce Phantom. He also told us that advanced biofuel technology was being considered and even diesel.
The possibility of Bugatti sharing components with Bentley is also being discussed at a high level. If Bugatti was to give the go ahead to a saloon, the car would be likely to share a platform, and other major components, with the next Arnage, due in 2012.
Autocar has also learned Bugatti will build an even more extreme version of the Veyron as the end of the current model's production cycle. Although it is still officially denied by the company, we understand that some customers have put deposits down on a more powerful GT version.
According to Bugatti engineering boss, Dr. Wolfgang Schreiber, it will be possible to get more power and torque from the 987 bhp, quad-turbocharged 16-cylinder engine:
'We can go to 1106lb ft of torque and we currently have [922lb ft] - and with a turbocharged engine, engineers are always working on getting higher power.'
There has been speculation that the Veyron GT could top 1200bhp and be capable of 270mph.
[Source: Autocar] |
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