Though its creators ultimately undershot the coveted four-digit horsepower rating, the long-awaited Bugatti Veyron will nonetheless go into production this Monday with a not-too-disappointing 987hp. The 1,000hp figure was largely symbolic, anyway. In practice, the W16-powered supercar, with 922 lbs.-ft of gut-busting torque, and a seven-speed dual-clutch tranny, has a proven top speed of 253mph (besting the McLaren M1's previous speed record for a production car of 240mph) and can go from zero to 62mph as fast as a roman candle's fireball (2.5 seconds), despite being a stout 4,162 lbs. The car will be unveiled in an official ceremony this weekend at the Bugatti home office in France, to little fanfare. Though, we'd suspect, hundreds of bottles of Comtes de Champagne, from Monte Carlo to Fort Collins, are giving up their corks tonight. [Update: We of course meant the McLaren F1, not M1, and we failed to note that the Koenigsegg CCR had already broken the F1's speed record earlier this year. Thanks for the poke in the eye, Henry.]
Bugatti Veyron: First official pictures [The German Car Blog]
Related:
Bugatti Veyron To Unleash Hell Later This Year; Bugatti Hits 248mph, Waits for Validation of Fastest Production Car Claim; Spy Photos: Bugatti s Elusive Veyron; More on the Bugatti Veyron: Unlocking Its Top Speed with the Second Key ; Safe at 248mph: The Bugatti Veyron s Survival Cell ; Spy Photos: Bugatti Veyron in the US; Bugatti Veyron on Video [internal]