A $2 Million Rocket
Bugatti’s Grand Sport is the costliest car in production -- and
one of the fastest.
By Jason H. Harper
Bloomberg Markets, November 2009
You’re refueling Bugatti’s new convertible at a gas station in
the Hamptons and the gawkers gather. One asks The Question: “How
much is this car, anyway?”
Sliding back into the soft, leather driver’s seat, you fire up
the 1,001-horsepower engine and answer casually: “Two million,
give or take.” Then you whisk away in a roar of turbo power that
drowns out the sound of dropping jaws.
You may want to practice in front of a mirror.
At 1.4 million euros, or $2 million, the Bugatti Veyron Grand
Sport is the world’s most expensive car in production. It’s the
convertible version of the Veyron 16.4, the coupe released in
2006 after the Bugatti marque was resurrected by Volkswagen AG.
With a top speed of 253 miles (407 kilometers) per hour, the
Grand Sport is also one of the world’s fastest cars.
What ostensibly makes the Veyron worth $2 million is the cost of
engineering and the NASA-grade materials that keep the weight
down. It also needs special components, from a windshield that
can sustain a bird strike to tires that won’t turn into sludge
from extreme heat.
The all-wheel-drive Grand Sport is powered by a 16-cylinder
engine that’ll fire you forward with 922 pound-feet (1,250
newton-meters) of face-deforming torque. I have never, ever
experienced acceleration like this. Sixty miles per hour flashes
by in 2.5 seconds; 125 mph, in just over 7. It goes faster and
faster -- until you run out of courage.
Jason H. Harper writes about autos for Bloomberg News in New
York.jason@jasonhharper.com
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