Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport - Production starts

Production has now started on the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport

We all know that the Bugatti Veyron has been a huge success. The fastest, the most expensive, the most desired and just about any other superlative you can throw at it fits. But it has been around a little while now and, although Bugatti celebrated the 200th Veyron built back in March, demand has, not surprisingly in this economic climate, slowed a little.

But that looks set to pick up with the latest Veyron, the Grand Sport, which has commenced production at the Bugatti factory in Molsheim this week. And to celebrate that fact, Bugatti has had a bit of a get together of Veyron owners to play with pre-production cars in Cannes this weekend, which also gives them the excuse to release some new images of the Grand Sport.

Apart from Limited Edition Veyrons (like the Veyron Bleu Centenaire or the Veyron L’Edition Centenaire) the Veyron Grand Sport will be the mainstay of production from now on. Just 150 Veyron Grand Sports are scheduled to be built, with the first 50 of those reserved for customers who already have a Veyron.

The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport is touted as a Roadster, but is in reality a Targa. There are no power changes to the car, but it has had to be made stiffer to compensate for the big hole in the roof. That hole will be filled by a removable Targa top, but Bugatti do thoughtfully provide you with an umbrella-type contraption which you can use to cover the top if you get caught out in the rain. And you will need it if that happens, because there is nowhere to stow the removable Targa panel.

But will this be the end of Bugatti Veyron as we know it? We rather think so. There are on-going rumours of a Bugatti Veyron Saloon (Bugatti Royale?), but we think that unlikely. Much more likely is that Bugatti will move to produce a new super-supercar. How they will improve on the awesome Veyron is hard to comprehend, but it does seem much more likely that a new supercar will be next in line, rather than a super-saloon.

The first customer cars are due to be delivered in July, and cost €1.4 million + tax.