Bugatti unveils world's most expensive new carHamza Shaban 08:31, March 6th, 2019
SuppliedThe Bugatti La Voiture Noire is the most expensive new car in the world,there is only one of them and it has already sold.
To mark its 110th anniversary, the French automaker Bugatti celebrated in singular style, unveiling the most expensive new car in the world - La Voiture Noire, or the black car - in Geneva.
In case interested buyers have 16.7 million euros (NZ$27.8 million) lying around, Bugatti already sold its one-of-a-kind creation. The luxury brand said that the jet black sports car with a 16-cylinder engine, 1,500 horsepower and six exhaust pipes was handcrafted for a car collector who probably identifies with the motto of company founder, Ettore Bugatti: "If it is comparable, it is no longer Bugatti."
At its debut Tuesday during the Geneva International Motor Show in Switzerland, Bugatti chief executive Stephan Winkelmann said the car he deemed both "elegant and puristic" was inspired by an earlier model, the Bugatti Atlantic, of which only four were made.
"And if you look at the body work," he noted, "there is not one line too many."
Bugatti says the new "Voiture Noire" is a "reminiscence" of "la Voiture Noire" a Type 57 SC Atlantic that was Bugatti's most famous creation with its distinctive design feature of a dorsal seam running from the hinge in the split bonnet through to the rear end.
SuppliedYep, that's six exhaust pipes across the back there.
The Type 57 SC Atlantic is one of the most valuable classic cars in the world, as only four were made between 1936 and 1938, each of them with detailed differences created individually for the buyer.
While three are still in existence, the whereabouts of the second car built, which was used by Jean Bugatti as well as some of the Bugatti grand prix, has been a mystery for more than 80 years.
It is thought the car probably disappeared before the German invasion of Alsace, when it was to be dispatched to a safe region.
SuppliedBugatti says the La Voiture Noire is a "reminiscence" of the Type 57C Atlantic.
The most expensive car ever sold is said to be a Tour de France-winning 1963 Ferrari 250 GT. It was purchased in June by David MacNeil, chief executive of the automotive accessory maker WeatherTech, for a reported US$70 million (NZ$103 million).
Bugatti was founded in 1909 and acquired by German automaker Volkswagen in 1998.
Bugatti did not identify the new owner of the black car. But as Motor Trend wrote in its initial appraisal: "As the black car sits, the thing is further proof that now more than ever, it's good to be filthy, stinking rich."
The Washington Posthttps://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/111056 ... ve-new-car