Think you know your Bugattis? Here's every speed-obsessed model that matters
Advertisement
The touchstone for all modern Bugattis, the Type 35 of the 1920s won over 1,000 races in its competitive life. Not bad for a car with (at its most powerful) 138 horsepower. Advertisement - Page continues below
Over six metres long, three tonnes in weight and powered by a 12.7-litre inline eight that Bugatti put in a high speed train. Possibly the ultimate luxury statement. And a complete commercial flop. You might like
Could this be the prettiest aircraft of all time? Designed to win speed trials in the late 1930s, the contra-rotating props lightweight never flew in period because of World War Two. Advertisement - Page continues below
The only product of Bugatti's mid-1990s revival celebrated the 110th anniversary of Ettore Bugatti's birth with a quad turbo AWD V12 supercar... just in time for a global recession.
Before the Veyron came the... huh? Yep, this 1999 concept car previewed Volkswagen-led Bugatti's future with a 6.3-litre W18 engine good for a mere 555bhp. Took six years to evolve into the Veyron.
VW boss Ferdinand Piëch's dream of a 400kph, 1,000 horsepower car was finally realised. And the company only had to make a loss in the region of €4m on every one sold to achieve it.
You didn't expect Volkswagen to stop at a mere 1,000PS (986bhp), did you? New turbos, suspension, aero and tyres later, the SS managed a record breaking 268mph vmax on the VW test track. Advertisement - Page continues below
Veyron successor continued the quad turbo W16 recipe, now up to 1,479bhp with Le Mans racer levels of chassis stiffness, a limited top speed of 261mph and a £1.8m price.
Can a two tonne Fabergé egg moon rocket be a hardcore track special? With Bugatti now under the stewardship of spinoff specialist Stephan Winkelmann, oui , for sure. Advertisement - Page continues below
Longtail Chiron packing a beastly 1,578bhp engine tune was the first factory road car to breach the 300mph barrier in history. And it was still accelerating.
One more trophy for the quad turbo W16 engine. The roofless Mistral (named after southerly French breeze) took the cabriolet speed record with a 282mph run in late 2024. Roll on the Tourbillon.
The first Rimac tech-infused Bugatti teams a tilted Cosworth V16 with three e-motors for 1,775bhp. Intricate aero and horology-tastic cabin seal the deal, this is the next all time great hypercar in waiting. See more on Supercars
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
My son's lack of credit card saw him denied our hire car at the airport
Dear Gill, Last October I booked and paid for a hire car on Crete through Holiday Autos, nominating my son Robin as the main driver. As Robin does not hold a credit card, I chose a car firm that would accept a debit card. The rental cost £393 and included an insurance policy with AXA to cover the damage excess charge. On arrival at the Centauro rental desk, the agent insisted that Robin produce a credit card as security otherwise the car would not be released to us. This is despite showing proof that Robin had the necessary funds in his bank account. My son's partner offered to become the lead driver, as she had a credit card, but this was refused. We contacted Holiday Autos customer services and they spoke directly to the Centauro agent, but to no avail. Despite complaining to Holiday Autos, we have failed to get a refund for the original rental. Can you help? – John Muggridge Dear John, Holiday Autos is part of the CarTrawler organisation and, to its credit, it did investigate John's complaint efficiently, especially as he had taken out its Premium Customer Support for an extra €5 at the time of booking. However, Centauro was adamant that Robin didn't have sufficient funds in his bank account to cover the €1,400 (£1,180) damage deposit. I have seen proof that €1,400 had been deposited into his account the previous day. However, it would appear that the agent wasn't happy that this sum demonstrated that sufficient funds would remain after holiday spending to cover any damage, and so she refused to release the car. Although Robin had taken out insurance to reduce his excess to zero with AXA, if the car had suffered damage he would still have had to pay Centauro's invoice, and claim the cost back from AXA. Nearly all car rental companies – now including Centauro – demand a credit card so that a damage deposit can be ring-fenced against spending through the pre-authorisation process (a practice also introduced by accommodation providers). A few do still accept debit cards as security, but rather than ring-fencing the deposit, they will debit the damage excess amount from the card and it is not always refunded speedily following the car's return. Given the continuing lack of clarity on Centauro's own website, I asked Holiday Autos to take the issue up with the company at a higher level. Holiday Autos was aware of Centauro's recent change of policy to refuse debit cards, and recognised the confusion this may have caused. 'We remain committed to supporting our customers through their rental experience,' said a Holiday Autos spokesperson, 'and in this instance as a gesture of goodwill we have processed a full refund.' Your travel problems solved Gill takes on a different case each week – so please send your problems to her for consideration at asktheexperts@ Please give your full name and, if your dispute is with a travel company, your address, telephone number and any booking reference. Gill can't answer every question, but she will help where she can and all emails are acknowledged.
The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Major car brand ‘plotting return' of discontinued model that starred in iconic James Bond scene 46 years ago
A MAJOR brand could bring back a discontinued model which appeared in an iconic James Bond scene. Citroen is biding its time over whether to bring back the iconic retro 2CV. It earned its stripes as a French economy car and is recognised for revitalising post-war France. 4 4 The 2CV was nicknamed Deux Chevaux, translating to "two horses" referring to its tax horsepower rating. The 2CV featured in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only in a scene where Bond jumps into the passenger seat of co-star Melina Havelock's yellow car, heading off the twisty mountain roads, while Hector Gonzalez's men give chase in a pair of Peugeot 504 sedans. Bond eventually takes the wheel and the car enjoys a bone-rattling climax that sees it hurtling through olive trees. He then crisscrosses the road, before jumping over a pursuing Peugeot and bumping its offside-rear wheel on the sedan's roof. The scene was filmed in Corfu over 12 days and the car was one of several 2CVs used in the filming. While four are known to have survived filming, at least two were scrapped when production ended. 'We have a very, very strong heritage, one of the richest in the car industry,' then-Citroen boss Thierry Koskas told Auto Express. 'We have the 2CV, the Traction Avant, the DS: amazing cars known all over the world. "I absolutely agree that one of the big strengths of European brands is their heritage. The first-ever all-electric MINI JCW Aceman 'On the product side, we are not taking it as a general direction to do retro design. "But I do not exclude that maybe we study and [have] some exploration, we are open to look at that. "But at Citroen you will not see all the future cars reminding you of previous models. 'You will have people that value a design that is close to a car they used to love in the past. This is the debate. 'But there have been successes and failures in [automotive] revivals. "Some fail because [companies] don't position the car properly, they seem retro but aren't really, or customers don't really like the car or recognise their love story. "So if we were to do it, we would have to be very, very careful and cautious about how we did it.' 4 4
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Evans' WRC lead cut as Ogier secures Italy record
Elfyn Evans' World Rally Championship lead has been cut further, as Sebastien Ogier made it back-to-back wins with victory at Rally Italia Evans finished fourth, over five minutes behind Toyota team-mate Ogier who became the most successful driver in the Italian event's history with a fifth French eight-time world champion has cut his series deficit on the current leader from 30 points to 19, with another GR Yaris Rally1 driver, Kalle Rovanpera, a further one point was fourth in the baking heat of Sardinia, behind Hyundai's Ott Tanak who finished runner-up to maintain his own championship six of this season's rallies so far have been won by Toyota. Ogier's victory was his third of the season and came 12 months after losing out to Tanak by 0.2 seconds following a heart-breaking final-stage puncture in this also had a scare on Sunday's finale, when an overshoot in the final kilometres saw this year's lead over the Estonian slashed from 17.2s to 7.9s."In the ruts, I just couldn't turn the car," said Ogier."There was no speed at all, so I didn't try to force it and hit it, I preferred to stop and reverse. "Yeah, not ideal, still, it was enough to win."Evans once again found the gravel roads tough on the opening day, as he did in Portugal last never challenged for overall victory and also lost time on the top three when he punctured on Saturday's stage 11, though ironically he gained a place to fourth with Toyota team-mate Sami Pajari taking even longer over a wheel McErlean's Rally Italia was over almost before it started. He was one of six drivers caught out by the newly-introduced Telti - Calangianus - Berchidda loop, ripping the entire rear-left corner off his M-Sport Ford Puma on stage two. The Northern Irish driver was forced to retire with suspension damage before restarting, out of contention, on Saturday and finishing 11th in remains 10th drivers face similar conditions in round seven of the 14-event series with more gravel stages in Acropolis Rally Greece from 26 to 29 June. Rally Italia Sardegna result 1. Sebastien Ogier (France), Toyota, 3 hours 34 minutes 25.5 seconds2. Ott Tanak (Estonia), Hyundai, +7.9secs3. Kalle Rovanpera (Finland), Toyota, +50.5secs4. Elfyn Evans (Great Britain), Toyota, +5min 05.7secs5. Takamoto Katsuta (Japan), Toyota, +7min Josh McErlean (Ireland), Ford, +57min 10.1secs FIA World Rally Championship drivers' standings 1. Elfyn Evans (Great Britain), Toyota, 133 points2. Sebastien Ogier (France), Toyota, 1143. Kalle Rovanpera (Finland), Toyota, 1134. Ott Tanak (Estonia), Hyundai, 1085. Thierry Neuville (Belgium), Hyundai, 836. Takamoto Katsuta (Japan), Toyota, 63Selected10. Josh McErlean (Ireland), Ford, 1212. Gus Greensmith (Great Britain), Skoda, 8
