Bugatti Veyron If you desire to sizzle the tarmac in the fastest, most powerful and the most expensive car then your search ends with the Bugatti Veyron 16.4. Speed is something that you would naturally expect from a car that is named after the French racing legend Pierre Veyron, who won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1939 while racing for the original Bugatti firm. The Bugatti Veyron has a top speed of over 400 km/h, and it is priced at the princely sum of approx. $1,200,000 USD (taxes extra). Once you step on the gas the car is meant to go from zero to max speed in an uninterrupted acceleration, much like a jet aircraft. Built by the Volkswagen AG subsidiary Bugatti Automobiles SAS in its Molsheim (Alsace, France) factory, the car reached full production in September 2005.

The car's safety systems are designed to cope with its extraordinary performance, acceleration and speed. There is a single-piece carbon-fiber monocoque that is known to have scored maximum points in crash tests, while there are the rudimentary airbags to give the driver and passenger additional protection. The Veyron 16.4 comes with a set of specially designed high-speed tires - sizes 265-680 ZR500A (front) and 365-710 R540A (rear). These tires incorporate an innovative safety feature in the form of the PAX System that ensures safe handling even after sudden pressure loss. Another innovative safety element for the vehicle lies in its rear spoiler, which provides the necessary down force during high-speed travel, and acts as a kind of 'parachute brake' during emergency braking.

The Veyron's W16 alloy engine employs the space-saving VR principle with two particularly slender eight-cylinder blocks arranged at a 90° angle to each other. The engine's 1001 horsepower capacity equips the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 with a level of acceleration unheard of in the sports car segment, propelling it from 0 to 60 mph in just three seconds and past the 200 mph mark in a mere 14 seconds. Thanks to its 923 lb-ft design, the Veyron's enormous propulsive power is not exhausted until it reaches 252.3 mph (406 km/h): the maximum speed for which chassis and drive train have been designed. The power transmission is via an innovative direct shift gearbox. Without any interruption in the power flow, the sequential seven-speed gearbox transmits the engine's power to the wheels via permanent four-wheel drive.

When it comes to aesthetics the Veyron scores as brilliantly. The car comes in classical two-tone paintwork, the bonnet, roof and rear is in the darker of the two colors, while the sides and front wheel arches are in the lighter color. Its highly exclusive and functional interior is meant to transport you into a world of your own. Superb two-tone leather, quality metallic trims and magnificently designed and ergonomically laid out controls characterize the cockpit. There is a deliberate avoidance of superfluous instruments and modern extras giving the interior an uncluttered look and further emphasizing the car's categorically ultra high-end sporty appeal.