Bugatti just showed the world what an over-the-top car looks like. With the release of the Bugatti Tourbillon (pronounced tour-beyon) model, it is safe to say that luxury on four wheels may have reached a peak.
Bugatti, owned now by Volkswagen Auto Group, is not a new name; in fact, it is one of the oldest automotive brands in existence.
Founded in 1909 by Italian born Ettore Bugatti, the company was first located in Germany. In the first decade of the company, there wasn’t much done to build the brand due to development costs and World War I breaking out.
Bugatti showed three cars at the Paris Auto Show in 1919, and the company began to lift off, building mostly high-performance race cars. The company continued this strategy until 1939 when World War II claimed their factory.
A new factory was built in France, but Ettore passed away in 1947, leaving the company to fall further into obscurity. Operations were ceased in 1952 and the company was started again a few times but failed to make a real mark on the industry.
Volkswagen Group restarted the Bugatti nameplate in 1998 and released a prototype in 1998 at the Paris Auto Show. They continued development for the next few years until they released the Veyron in 2005.
The Veyron, a 16-cylinder supercar with four turbochargers entered the scene with a bang. Redefining supercar power and price, the Veyron was the spark that lifted the company to new heights. With the financial backing of Volkswagen, the company could let the imaginations of the engineers and designers go wild and wild they went.
Almost 20 years later, the company is still making cars that edge on insanity. With the latest design, the Bugatti Tourbillon, have they gone too far?
The Tourbillon starts off with an 8.3-liter V-16 engine, which work with three 800-volt motors to produce 1,800 horsepower. That’s right, the Tourbillon is a hybrid. With a 25-Kilowatt battery pack, you can drive it in electric mode for 40-50 miles, though they limit the horsepower to a paltry 800.
While the word “hybrid” may bring to mind a wheezing Prius, the Tourbillon pulls an impressive 0-60 time of 1.99 seconds and can reach an electronically limited speed of 278 miles per hour.
This decadence comes with a price. Bugatti will make exactly 250 of these and will price them at $4.1 – $4.6 million. Most are already spoken for.
When I was a kid, I had posters of the supercars of the 80’s on my bedroom walls. Porsches, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, etc. In my head, I thought they were the pinnacle of automotive design.
The supercar is a symbol of success now as it was then. It’s a Rolex you can drive to show people that you have made it.
These cars are rarely owned by true car enthusiasts. With few exceptions, like Jerry Seinfeld or Jay Leno, most people that own supercars aren’t very “hands on” with them. They don’t even drive them.
Auto Trader, a popular online car sales platform, lists 11 Bugatti Veyrons for sale, with 11,000 miles being the one driven the longest. It is selling for $1.1 million, not too far from its $1.23 million MSRP new.
These aren’t “driver” cars unless you have access to a racetrack. They are woefully impractical, uncomfortable, and a liability. They also draw massive attention which could be a positive, and why many of today’s “influencers” have them in the forefront of their travels.
So why buy one? To say you could. The same reason people pay crazy money for modern art, expensive liquor, and wagyu steaks wrapped in gold foil. It is a baller move.
When I was in my room as a kid, owning one of these supercars seemed like a good idea. Call it maturity or personal growth, but I wouldn’t have one now. Not because they aren’t cool, but because the pressure of owning one of these must be immense. That is why they mostly sit in a garage somewhere.
I don’t think I would ever be wealthy enough to be okay with spending that much money on a car. Since I most likely won’t make that much money in my entire lifetime, I have faith I will be safe from ever making that decision.
The Bugatti Tourbillon just upped the game that few can or want to participate in. It is a masterpiece and a testament to how far we have come scientifically as a society: Obscenely excessive.
I can’t wait to see who tries to outdo it and what that looks like.
As for me, I will see you on the road!
