Bugatti Veyron — A great sports car

somewhere.
Each model comes with new installments that offer something different maybe not so drastic but sufficient enough to raise the price tag.
In this issue, I thought let me do a super car which is fast becoming the main subject at golf games and other big boys gatherings.
The vehicle in question is the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. You just don’t walk up to a sales person in a Bugatti dealership and get handed the keys.
These cars are special, starting at almost US$2 million a pop, I can understand why.
Already at that price, one can buy a good second hand helicopter. Well I had a look and feel of a 2009 model, which is on sale for US$1,4 million.
The owner traded it in so that they could buy the 2011 model of the same car with extras and from what I head, he paid almost US$2,3 million big ones.
So my focus naturally will be on the 2009 model, which is special because it is the first model to be introduced to the market.
It is essentially a Veyron with a removable roof panel. Typically, it is only those exceptionally rare and desirable classic cars that can boast a value upwards of a million dollars.
It takes many decades for the value to grow that much, so only a truly special car can leave the dealership at the price of US$1,7 million with its odometer reading zero.
The 2009 Bugatti Veyron 16,4 is such a car: an engineering masterpiece that easily belongs in the car collection of any extremely wealthy automotive connoisseur.
Normal car terms barely apply to the Veyron. No fewer than 1 001 angry horses (horse power kwete mabhiza vanhuwe) stampede forth from a one-of-a-kind 8.0-litre W16 engine with four turbochargers.
Mid-mounted and feeding all four wheels, the Veyron’s engine uses its amazing thrust to exceed the theoretical maximum speed of F1 cars.
It is not quite as quick as Lewis Hamilton’s ride, mind you, but its 2,5-second 0-60km time beats anything else that you can buy and drive legally on public roads.
Should you dare to venture out on a closed course for a maximum-speed jaunt of 400km/h, the Veyron has been meticulously engineered to aerodynamically glue itself to the ground.
An automatically raising rear wing not only aids in that endeavor, but also cants upward when the brakes are applied to provide additional stopping power.
As if this monumental performance and sky-high-price are not enough to assure exclusivity, the Bugatti Veyron can be customised to each customer’s desire.
This particular one was not customised but it sure looked and appealed better than most customised versions.
Each body shell can be painted in two tones, with the front fenders and doors differing from the rest of the car.
The interior can similarly be fashioned in two colors. Taste is no object, either, so feel free to bedeck your Veyron with the “Oakland A” (green and yellow), the “Joker” (purple and green) or the “Ronald McDonald” (red and yellow).
On the flip side, it is almost as affordable as some California beachfront property and it is easier to rid yourself of irksome neighbors, too.
So should you have the financial muscle to purchase a Veyron and especially if you own a road long enough to really enjoy it, why not take the US$1,7 million plunge?
Well for Zimbabwe its will have to have the additional duty, vat and other taxes too, so you have got to be loaded.
It had a glass roof panel (that must be removed by hand) and an accessory soft top that can be stored in the car’s trunk.
Standard equipment includes 20-inch front wheels, 21-inch rear wheels, specially designed Michelin run-flat tires, carbon-ceramic brakes, a height-adjustable suspension and parking sensors.
Interior features include full leather trim, heated seats, a choice of three types of sport seats, automatic climate control, a 400-watt CD sound system, iPod interface, Bluetooth, a back-up camera and a navigation system with a rearview mirror display.
This Grand Sport car includes a removable partial-glass roof panel and an accessory canvas roof panel.
Every Veyron can be equipped with a two-tone exterior and interior, while Bugatti is open to customising your million-plus-dollar purchase in almost any way you see fit.
There are no side or side curtain airbags in the 2009 Bugatti Veyron – just the bare minimum front airbags.
Stability control, traction control and antilock carbon-ceramic disc brakes are standard.
As one might expect in a US$1,7 million car, the Veyron’s cabin is pretty fancy.
The leather upholstery is opulent and omnipresent, and extensive aluminum trim adorns the center stack, steering wheel and other controls.
The gauge cluster features a somewhat gimmicky “power gauge” that supposedly displays real-time horsepower production.
The Veyron’s bathtub-like high beltline, obtrusively thick A-pillars and low seating position do not bolster its credentials as a driver’s car, but there is a lot of room in there, even for tall folks.
To keep the elements out of the Grand Sport model, its removable roof panel features a transparent glass center that when in place can still withstand the Veyron’s maximum speed.
That is not the case with the accessory canvas roof, which can only be used up to a recommended speed of 120km/h.
But at least it can be stored in the front trunk, retracting like an umbrella, complete with a removable pole that aids in mounting it from inside.
The 2009 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is so fast that it needs an eponymous adjective.
In a straight line, the only things on Earth that accelerate faster than it are racecars, jets, rockets, bullets and Superman.
None of those are lined in leather, though. Quite simply, the Veyron can go faster than is legally possible, so I would suggest buying your own strip of deserted road and inviting me over sometime.
So till next week be mesmerised because I am.
l Fact D Jeke is a motoring enthusiast who has attended auto shows, rallies and has written for various publications in the region for the last decade. She can be contacted via e-mail on [email protected]