FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW: Bugatti unveils latest Veyron Legends series

Bugatti has lifted the wraps on the second model in its limited-edition Legends series.

It’s the weightily-titled Jean Bugatti Legend Edition Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse and it brings new meaning to the term exclusivity because only three will be built.

Toting the 882kW/1500Nm 8.0-litre W16 engine from the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse model (which accelerates to 100km/h in a mere 2.6 seconds), the special-edition Bugatti is said by the company to reference the famous Type 57SC Atlantic "La Voiture Noir" that was Ettore Bugatti’s son Jean’s personal vehicle and is probably the most exclusive car to be produced by the Italian company.

The Jean Bugatti Legend Edition Veyron’s body is "jet black, clear-coated carbon fibre", with platinum used for the Bugatti horseshoe in the grille and the rear EB logo. It has black diamond-cut wheel rims, and an interior featuring "the same beige and brown tones that were present in the Type 57SC Atlantic," including seats, instrument panel, steering wheel, dash panel, centre console, door trim panels and windscreen cross member all rendered in chocolate brown.

There’s also an embossed "Les Légendes de Bugatti" in the centre console, as well as door sill plates displaying the likeness and signature of Jean Bugatti.

All six models in the Bugatti Veyron Legends series are based on the Grand Sport Vitesse and honour "renowned names which have played a crucial role in its (Bugatti’s) history and which have helped [in] creating its mystique".

Gianoberto Carlo Rembrandt Ettore Bugatti, who was known as Jean, was Ettore Bugatti’s oldest son and, as well as playing a vital role in the design of many of the marque’s most famous models, also headed the company from the early age of 27.

Jean Bugatti is probably best known for the Type 57SC Atlantic but also played a major part in the design of the massive and remarkable Type 41 Royale which today rates among the most valuable of all vintage cars -- although it pales beside the Type 57C Atlantic, versions of which in recent years have sold at auction for more than $30 million.

Jean Bugatti died tragically at the age of 30 when he crashed a Type 57 race car while trying to avoid a drunken cyclist on a road close to the Dorlisheim factory in Alsace, Germany.

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