Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse sets World Speed Record: OFFICIAL

The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse world speed record is official and there will be a limited edition WRC model with black and orange paintwork.

Earlier this week Bugatti were busy teasing something new, and we hoped it might be the ‘Super’ Veyron with 1600HP. But it wasn’t.

What it was was a new world speed record for the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, Bugatti’s convertible Veyron, which had been out playing at VW’s Ehra-Lessien test track in the hands of Chinese driver Anthony Liu, and under the watchful eye of Germany’s Technical Inspection and Certification (TÜV) to certify the Vitesse’s performance.

That new world speed record for an open-topped production car is now officially 408.84kph (254mph), so Bugatti are dong what Bugatti do and producing a limited edition World Speed Record car – the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse WRC Edition.

The Vitesse WRC comes with Bugatti’s 7.9 litre W16 with 1184bhp, 1,106lb/ft of torque and the same orange and black colour scheme as the Grand Sport World Record Coupe got when it broke the world speed record for a production car.

The Vitesse WRC Edition will be built in a maximum run of 8 cars, each costing an eye-watering €1.99 million (plus tax) and the first public debut will be at the Shanghai Motor Show later this month.

It would appear that Bugatti are taking no chances with Guinness this time after their Grand Sport Vitesse lost its world record gong because customer cars have a limiter fitted, and are happy to settle for the TUV’s verification of the record instead.

Which probably means they can claim the world speed record for a convertible for the Grand Sport Vitesse and still fit a limiter to production cars to prevent expensive syrups flying off in the face of a 254mph wind.