2015 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse La Finale

BUGATTI CELEBRATES THE VEYRON: WORLD PREMIÈRE OF THE 450TH AND FINAL VEYRON, THE GRAND SPORT VITESSE 'LA FINALE'

◾Bugatti President Wolfgang Dürheimer: 'As the most powerful and fastest production supercar in the world, the Veyron is the benchmark'
◾All 450 Veyrons have been sold, marking an important milestone for Bugatti
◾The first and 450th Veyron will be on display together at the Geneva International Motor Show

Molsheim/Geneva, 2 March 2015. The curtain rises on an icon! At the Geneva International Motor Show, Bugatti is celebrating the Veyron, the fastest production supercar in the world whose performance has captivated legions of fans around the world since its launch ten years ago. The Veyron is limited to 450 units, which have now all been sold. The world première of the final Veyron in Geneva will mark the culmination of an unprecedented chapter in automotive history. Bugatti will showcase the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse 'La Finale' with chassis number 450 alongside chassis number one of the Veyron 16.4 which rolled out of the company's factory in Molsheim ten years ago and heralded the start of the Veyron's success story.

'The Bugatti Veyron has shown that our engineers are capable of achieving a previously unimagined level of technical excellence, thereby opening up whole new dimensions in the automotive sector,' says Wolfgang Dürheimer, President of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. 'The Veyron is justifiably at the head of the field.'

'As the most powerful and fastest production supercar in the world, the Veyron is a true benchmark,' continues Dürheimer. 'With a world record speed of 431.072 km/h, it has become an icon of longitudinal dynamics.'

The development of the Bugatti Veyron represented one of the greatest technical and engineering challenges ever overcome in the automotive history. At the time, Bugatti developers were faced with four key specifications: the car had to transfer more than 1,000 PS onto the road, achieve a top speed in excess of 400 km/h, accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in less than three seconds and – the biggest challenge of all – still be suitable for 'driving to the opera' in comfort and style.

In addition to its stunning performance, it is this everyday practicality and suitability for comfortable, luxurious travel which makes the Veyron so unique, and which sets it apart from all other supercars and hyper cars on the market.

This combination has proven to be a recipe for success. All of the planned 450 vehicles have now been sold: 300 coupés and 150 open-top super sports cars.

'So far no other carmaker has managed to successfully market a product that stands for unique top-class technical performance and pure luxury in a comparable price/volume range,' says Wolfgang Dürheimer. 'This is an incredible success for Bugatti.'

Not only is the Veyron the epitome of premium performance and speed, it is also a prime example of timeless automotive design. The Veyron is an automotive piece of art featuring unique lines that are heavily influenced by the traditional design DNA of the Bugatti brand.

'The Veyron is a showcase for technology, design and art – in keeping with the Bugatti brand's values of 'Art, Forme, Technique'', Dürheimer says. Bugatti's customers are as unique as its vehicles. 'The Veyron has created an entirely new customer base for an automotive brand.'

'Alongside the certainty of owning the world's fastest production sports car with a high degree of individual exclusivity, Bugatti customers appreciate that, by purchasing a Veyron, they become part of the history of an automobile brand that is steeped in tradition,' says the Bugatti President. 'Many vehicles therefore find their way into private collections and are purchased as an investment by automotive connoisseurs.'

When it came to equipping the 450 Veyron sports cars, Bugatti did everything to fulfil customers' wishes. For example, the body finish featuring clear-lacquered exposed carbon fibre was particularly popular. Bugatti currently supplies this finish in eight colours – more than any other manufacturer and in a quality that no other company can achieve. In addition, the French luxury brand offers over 100 different colours for the painted finishes on the carbon fibre bodies. The vehicles also feature a wide range of luxurious materials that were uncommon in the automotive field, such as porcelain, crystal, special types of leather and wood, gold and platinum. Each Bugatti configured by a customer is unique. Including options, the average price of the vehicles recently sold is €2.3 million.

It goes without saying that Bugatti is already working on the sequel to its recent success story, with development of its next model well underway. 'With the next Bugatti model, we are aiming to consolidate and expand the market-leading position we have established with the Veyron,' the Bugatti President explains. 'Our challenge is to make the best even better.'

The 450th Veyron: Grand Sport Vitesse 'La Finale'
The last of the 450 Veyron supercars is the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse 'La Finale'. It draws its sheer force from a 1,200 PS, 8-litre, W16 engine which provides a breathtaking maximum torque of 1,500 Nm. It sprints from zero to 100 km/h in just 2.6 seconds and can achieve a top speed of 410 km/h.

The 'La Finale' design is a modern homage to chassis number 1

Première for red exposed carbon fibre


The design of the carbon bodywork of 'La Finale' is based on chassis number one which was designed ten years ago in the traditional Bugatti two-tone colour scheme, which was popular in Bugatti models of the 1920s and 1930s. This striking design language remains inseparable from the Veyron to this day. For the 'La Finale', the front wing panels, the doors and the areas between the doors and the side air intakes, known as 'medallions' in French, are made from black exposed carbon fibre. The other parts of the outer shell are made from red exposed carbon fibre, the first time this colour has ever been used on a vehicle. Including this new colour, Bugatti now offers a total of eight different tints for exposed carbon fibre. The French luxury brand is an industry leader in terms of not only the diversity of the colour schemes it offers, but also in relation to the quality and processing of the exposed carbon fibre.

Únusually for a Veyron, the name of the Grand Sport Vitesse has been incorporated into the outer shell. The 'La Finale' lettering, which highlights the extra significance of this particular super sports car, appears twice: once very clearly under the right front headlight and then in a slightly concealed position on the underside of the rear wing. In both cases, the bright 'Italian Red' lettering is painted into the black exposed carbon fibre.

For the first time in a Veyron, the air scoops and intercooler cover have been painted black. The EB logo and the relief '16.4' have also been emblazoned on it in Italian Red.

The wheel design is also in keeping with the red and black colour scheme. It is worth mentioning the hubcaps that were milled from a single block of aluminium – another example of the tremendous lengths that Bugatti goes to in the production of its vehicles. And that's not all: each hubcap features a relief of the famous Bugatti elephant that was created during the milling process and then painted black. Rembrandt Bugatti, renowned sculptor and brother of company founder Ettore, designed this figure which was later used as a radiator cap on the Type 41 Royale and subsequently became a symbol of the brand. The elephant can also be found on the red fuel tank cover and oil cap as a black anodised insert made from milled aluminium.

An interior of strong, sophisticated contrasts

As with the exterior, the interior of the 'La Finale' also pays tribute to the first Veyron. It was upholstered entirely in leather in a light beige colour known as 'Silk'. Leather also adds a refined touch to the interior of the 'La Finale', where it features in the centre seat panels, the footwell, the headliner, the cowling and the rear wall. Únlike chassis number one, the designers and the customer have settled on contrasting colours for chassis number 450, selecting a striking red tone known as 'Hot Spur'. This red appears in the arm rests, the instrument panel, the dashboard, the side bolsters and on the steering wheel rim, which is also decorated with stitching in 'Silk' beige.

Red exposed carbon fibre is also used in the interior: on the centre tunnel, on the inserts in the centre console, on the door panels and seat shells.

The red head restraints are adorned with 'La Finale' lettering embroidered in 'Silk' colour. The lettering is found again in 'Italian Red' in the door sill strips, etched into the black exposed carbon fibre.

The jewel in the interior is undoubtedly the Bugatti elephant on the stowage compartment cover made from red exposed carbon fibre and located in the rear panel between the seats. The elephant was cast in bronze with great technical skill, given a black patina, and then worked into the cover as an insert. The lettering '450/450' has been painted in black under the bronze cast.

The Geneva International Motor Show will be staged from 5 to 15 March 2015 at the Palexpo exhibition centre in Geneva. The Bugatti exhibit is in hall 1.

The impossible made possible
The Bugatti Veyron – a technical masterpiece

The development of the Veyron was one of the most significant technical challenges ever undertaken by the automotive industry. Bugatti engineers had to push the limits of physics and do things that had never been done before in automotive development.

Structure and materials. Very few parts, components or systems from existing vehicle concepts could be used in the Veyron. Everything had to be developed from scratch to achieve the required performance before being incorporated into the vehicle. When creating the Veyron, designers regularly drew inspiration from other industries which required extreme speeds and demanded extreme stress loads from materials and systems.

One key objective in the development of this exceptional vehicle was to achieve maximum longitudinal and lateral dynamics combined with optimum safety for the driver and front passenger. To do so, the Bugatti development team came up with a winning combination of rigidity and lightweight construction for use in the fastest roadster in the world.

Bugatti selected materials with optimum characteristics for each area of the Veyron, designed specifically to cope with the relevant loads. Criteria included lightness, tensile strength, formability, heat resistance, and non-splintering.

The passenger compartment of the Veyron consists of extremely strong yet feather-light carbon fibre. Like a Formula 1 racing car, it is designed as a monocoque and weighs around 110 pounds. The rear of the monocoque contains a cavity modelled to house the 100-litre fuel tank. This central vehicle structure is completed by a fixed, highly complex frame structure at the front and rear. The torsional rigidity from axis to axis is approximately 45,000 Nm per degree, almost double that found in modern production sports cars. This excellent structural rigidity ensures extremely precise driving performance in bends, with excellent stability under braking and acceleration.

The engine and gearbox assembly and the supporting frame for the rear of the vehicle are mounted with carbon fibre brackets manufactured using a resin infiltration process. These components must endure continuous temperatures of up to 170 degrees due to their proximity to the exhaust system and turbochargers. Bugatti developed these new heat-resistant materials and production methods especially for the Veyron and thus for the automotive industry. Both have since found their way into the aviation industry.

The front end of the Veyron is firmly connected to the front of the monocoque and consists of a 34 kg lightweight aluminium frame structure which essentially performs two functions. Firstly, it holds the front end components including the front axle differential, the cooling packages, steering system and the battery. Secondly, the front end also acts as a crash structure that is designed to deform and absorb kinetic energy in the event of an accident.

Torsion-resistant and lightweight upper longitudinal members made from carbon fibre are mounted at the rear of the monocoque. A carbon fibre cross member bolted to the two longitudinal members forms the rear end of the frame structure.

Titanium was the first choice for the bolts used to connect the three parts of the vehicle - the front end, monocoque and rear chassis. The advantage of titanium bolts over steel screw bolts is that they provide maximum strength but weigh less, a feature that Bugatti drew from the aviation industry. The Veyron was the first production car in the automotive industry to use titanium bolts. It was also Bugatti that subjected these bolts to continuous load testing to ensure that they could be used in a vehicle.

Carbon fibre plays an important role in the Veyron due to its properties, which have been developed to withstand extreme loads, but also for aesthetic reasons. Bugatti is the market leader in exposed carbon fibre. No other manufacturer in the automotive industry manages to produce exposed carbon fibre of such immaculate quality. Material authenticity is the defining principle - everything is genuine, there is no overlamination. The carbon mats are grouped and superimposed by hand and with a keen eye for precision to ensure perfect, symmetrical alignment of the fibres on the vehicle body and other components. Úp to twelve layers of lacquer and paint are then applied by hand, resulting in clear-coated carbon fibre with unparalleled colour depth and brilliance. Bugatti currently offers eight colours: blue, grey, black, green, brown, purple, turquoise, and now also red. No other manufacturer offers this range of colours. Exposed carbon fibre has since become an extremely popular option amongst Bugatti customers. Bugatti has also transferred this expertise to other Group brands for small series vehicles and certain customised options.

Source - Bugatti