Milestone #7: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sports creates Land Speed Record

There are certain things in life, which when even thought about for a split-second, demand superlatives. And when it comes to the world of speed, there are quite a lot of things (and humans) which do that. Starting from Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher (greatest F1 racers ever) to the TGV and Concorde (the fastest train and jet), the list is quite formidable. And, if there is one car which has its name etched into this list, it would undoubtedly be the Bugatti Veyron.

Stung with criticism from all angles, Volkswagen, the owner of the Bugatti brand took it upon itself to deliver what it promised in the form of Veyron, even if it involved losing money on every number produced. In the process of doing so, terms like W16 engine configuration, 1001 bhp and quad turbochargers became known to the general public. Finally, when the Bugatti Veyron was launched as the World’s most powerful car at that time, the world was in awe of one of the ultimate cars that had ever been produced. Though the car’s design was not liked by everyone, the specifications and power output more than made up for it.

 

And now, when the Veyron is about to become history with the last few numbers to be manufactured, Bugatti decided to celebrate with the most fitting title to it’s super car – “Guiness Land Speed Record for a Production Car”. On July-04-2010, in Volkswagen group’s proving grounds at Ehra-Lessien near Wolfsburg, Germany, in the presence of German Technical Inspection Agency (TUV) and Guiness Book of Records representative, Bugatti sent it’s official test driver Pierre Henri Raphanel to drive the first of the Super Sports in the oval in both the directions. With speeds of 427.93 & 434.21 kph and an average speed of 431.072 kph (268 mph), the Veyron Super Sports easily set a new world speed record for a production car.

 

To commemorate this, the first five Super Sports edition produced will have the same black and orange livery as the record car. The entire Super Sports series will come with a power output of 1200 bhp and a maximum torque of 1500 Nm which are identical to those of the record car, but the Top Speed will be limited to 257.9 mph thus making the life of the tires and the occupants easier. But only a very few people, who are already lucky enough to even think of spending a fortune on buying this, will be able to get their hands on this one, what with a price tag of close to a quarter of a billion dollars and a very limited production run.



Images Courtesy: Autoblog (www.autoblog.com)