How do you top the Veyron? After spending the weekend at the Pebble Beach Concours – where the new Grand Sport was unveiled – I can report it’s a question that Bugatti’s senior execs are wrestling with.
One thing's for sure, the company isn't in the mood for downsizing or replacing the 253mph supercar with a pale imitation of its predecessor.
Boss Franz-Josef Paefgen admitted to us in Pebble Beach this weekend that the Veyron replacement would still be the 'ultimate'. After all, Veyron buyers are 'extreme people' he told me.
What's not certain is that the next Veyron will be another mid-engined sports car. Some high ups in the Bugatti quite fancy a front-engined car, maybe even a four-seater. That would, of course, be in keeping with the company's heritage. It would also get around the problem of trying to outdo the Veyron. They could even use some Bentley bits and pieces such as the platform from the next Arnage.
Then again is Bugatti's future just about doing one car? One of the big cheeses was musing about the possibility of his company developing two separate models. Which is an interesting idea: but isn’t it hard enough to sell one million quid supercar?
No doubt that speculation is going to carry on right up to 2012 when the Veyron is due to bite the bullet. I’m just pleased that Bugatti has a future at all, because there’s been lots of talk of it shutting up shop when all the Veyrons have been built.
The Veyron is outrageous in every way - but who can honestly say they'd rather the company went back into hibernation?