Bugatti Veyron: European first drive

Inside Line drove the Bugatti Veyron in Europe.

The Veyron is an orgiastic monument of automotive excess. For your million euros, plus local taxes (about $1,172,000 U.S.) you will own not only the most expensive production car in the world, but also the quickest, the fastest and, by a frankly ludicrous margin, the most powerful. You will buy a carbon-fiber monocoque onto which are hung carbon-fiber and aluminum panels. The car is suspended by forged-aluminum wishbones which support the fattest tires ever to be used on a road car, those at the back boasting an astonishing 14.6-inch width.

And which is why the Veyron will always be a thing to admire and respect, rather than to love and cherish. For all its apocalyptic pace and power, if you gave me a decent road and the choice of a Bugatti Veyron or an older and slower-by-far Ferrari F40, I'd take Maranello every time. Cars like that, and, to a slightly lesser extent, the McLaren don't simply put on a show for you to watch, they give you the lead role. I'd always rather be involved rather than spectating.

Too Cool to be Forgotten
But I'm still glad the Veyron exists and am truly in awe of its abilities. Any car that does things no other car has ever done is intrinsically interesting but there's more to the Veyron even than this. It's not just an unbelievably fast and powerful car, it is also an exquisitely engineered car. If you had told me when I was road testing the McLaren F1 that one day someone would create an entirely usable, docile street car with 1,000 hp, I'd have laughed in your face. But they have, it's here, it's called the Bugatti Veyron and I, for one, will never forget it.