2008 Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4

• 1,001 hp, 7,993-cc quad-turbocharged W16 engine • 7-speed DSG twin-clutch gearbox • Haldex four-wheel drive • Electrically adjustable independent suspension • 4-wheel carbon-ceramic disc brakes • Top speed of 253 mph • Number 100 of 300 built • One owner from new and less than 700 km from new • Offered from the Zegwaard Collection Introduced in 2005, the Bugatti Veyron EB 16V rocketed from rest to 60 mph in a mind-boggling 2.47 seconds. In 2008, the sticker price for the Veyron, named after Pierre Veyron, co-driver of the winning Type 57C Bugatti in the 1939 24 Hours of Le Mans, exceeded $1.8 million. It remains the most expensive production car ever conceived. At the time of its introduction, it was also the fastest production car at any price. The Veyron was based on the Bentley Hunaudieres concept and was built at the Bugatti Atelier in Molsheim, FRA. It was designed by Hartmut Warkuss, with Jozef Kaban responsible for the body and Wolfgang Schreiber directing the engineering. If there is any doubt about the accomplishments of these men, the speed of 253.81 mph that was recorded at the Volkswagen test track was independently duplicated and verified by James May on the television show “Top Gear.” All that speed and forced induction generates heat, and lots of it. As a result, the Veyron requires a total of 10 radiators. Three of the units cool the 1,001-hp engine and another three are for the heat exchangers, while the air conditioning, transmission, differential and engine oil each get one of their own. That heat is clearly a byproduct of the turbocharged power that allowed Road & Track to record 0–60 mph in a mere 2.6 seconds and the quarter mile in 10.2 seconds, at a scorching 143.6 mph. That speed comes despite the significant heft of 4,162 pounds — no doubt in part due to the 8-liter W16, those 10 radiators with plumbing, and the bevy of luxury fitments required by an owner spending a king’s ransom on a supercar that also includes more mundane items such as a stereo and air bags. Finished in silver and dark metallic blue, as ordered by the vendor, who is also the original owner, this example has covered a mere 669 kilometers (415 miles) from delivery, all of which have been accrued exclusively by the Bugatti service team to whom the car was sent for its annual maintenance. Inside, this Veyron 16.4 is as pristine as one would expect, and this supercar comes complete with all service books, handbooks and its original keys, including the all-important top-speed key. All come in the specially made aluminum case, as was delivered new with every Bugatti Veyron. Unquestionably a masterpiece of engineering and design, there can be no better example of what may be the finest, fastest, and most luxurious sporting car ever conceived. Being allowed the privilege of wearing the oval Bugatti badge indicates extraordinarily high standards, all of which the Veyron EB 16.4 has certainly met.

SCM Analysis

Detailing

Vehicle:	2008 Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4
Number Produced:	300
Original List Price:	$1,800,000
Tune Up Cost:	The price of a Porsche Boxster. If repairs are needed, add a 911 Turbo
Chassis Number Location:	Various locations, including top of dashboard
Engine Number Location:	Side of block
Club Info:	Any one you want to join
Website:	http://www.bugattiownersclub.co.uk

This car, Lot 122, sold for 579,600 GBP ($933,814), including buyer’s premium, at RM Auctions’ London auction on October 31, 2012.

One can argue that the modern supercar era began with the introduction of the Lamborghini Miura in 1966. So, if the Miura was every schoolboy’s dream in the 1960s — giving way to the Ferrari Boxer in the 1970s, the Lamborghini Countach in the 1980s, and the McLaren F1 in the 1990s — then certainly the Bugatti Veyron wears the poster-over-the-bed crown for today’s youth.

Quite frankly, I would have to say whatever car we argue is in second place is a really distant second as well. Look at the Veyron’s specs to see the stuff of dreams: Eight liters. 16 cylinders. 1,001 horsepower. 0–60 mph in 2.6 seconds, with a top speed of 253 mph. And, to answer the second question every gawker asks after you tell them 253 mph, yes, it cost freaking $1.8m when new.

Worthy of the Bugatti name

But is the Veyron, a product of the reborn Bugatti badge, cut of the same cloth as its namesake’s pre-war Grand Prix cars, or is it more Volkswagen than Bugatti? The answer is clear; the Veyron is indeed a car worthy of the name and a true modern Bugatti, regardless of the brand’s parent company’s modest mainstream offerings.

The Veyron simply killed any existing notions of what “fast” was, and that anything truly fast had to be unruly and uncomfortable. The Veyron is anything but. It is a 1,001-hp car that is civilized enough to drive every day, and there are quite a few Veyrons with considerable mileage on their odometers.

The engineering within is the new standard to which supercars are now judged. For example, the Veyron’s DSG gearbox is programmed so perfectly that every shift is perfect every time. Seven years down the road, Ferrari is still trying to figure that trick out, and Lamborghini hasn’t even pulled into the figuring-it-out parking lot yet.

I quizzed Road & Track’s Senior Editor Jason Cammisa, the Jedi Master of modern supercars, about his thoughts on the Veyron: “The best part about the car is that every single piece is gorgeous and well made. Yeah, so the key is last-generation VW, and the gauges now look 10 years old. But you pull trim pieces and realize that everything is just different.

“Look in the rearview mirror at an Aventador and you see a cheap plastic cover on the positive jump-start terminal in the engine compartment with a red “+” on it and a wire hanging out. You can spend three days looking at a Veyron and you’ll see nothing of the sort. Every screw head is perfect (and gorgeous). It’s hard to say it’s ‘worth the money,’ but the more time you spend with a Veyron, the more you see where the money actually went. I think the Veyron is the real deal and always will be. Stupid party tricks like the Aventador are all about their looks and sound and numbers. The Veyron kicked everyone’s ass without calling attention to itself.”

Well, is it collectible?

But let’s get to what matters to SCMers: Will the Veyron stand the test of time as a collectible, along the lines of cars like the McLaren F1? I sure think so.

Like any new exotic car, they have been subject to depreciation from their original $1.8m MSRP. The prevailing market for low-mileage cars, at least at the “ask,” seems to be in the $1.2m range. Obviously, higher-mileage examples — and that one the guy drove into the lake — will sell for less.

The most high-profile, low-price Veyron is the (then) 11,800-mile car that sold at no reserve at Barrett-Jackson’s Las Vegas sale in 2010 for $770k — only to have its Kevin Federline-impersonator high bidder refuse to sign the ticket. B-J CEO Craig Jackson bought it when nobody else stepped up, and he has made it no secret that he loves driving it.

Which brings us to our subject car — an essentially new 2008 Veyron that sold at RM for a touch over $900k. I’m not good with math, but that’s about a 50% discount from sticker, which makes the first owner’s cost per mile significantly more than my mortgage payment.

For a one-owner “in the wrapper” Veyron, I’m calling this well bought, and I think the coming years will prove it. If nothing else, that’s only about $900 per horsepower, or around $3,600 per mph. How can you go wrong with that? ?

(Introductory description courtesy of RM Auctions.)