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NEWS
Revealed: Bugatti Veyron Jean-Pierre Wimille edition
Hypercar manufacturer unleashes yet another low-volume version of its ballistic Veyron at Pebble BeachBugatti’s OTT Veyron is now eight years old, yet the big daddy of hypercars retains its place at the top of the hierarchy, aided by the regular rollout of limited-edition models.
The latest instalment in the sequence is the (deep breath) Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse Legend Jean-Pierre Wimille, which has just been revealed at the Pebble Beach concours in California.
It’s a low-volume special in the true sense, as just three examples of the car – which is based on the existing Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse – will be built and sold. There’s as yet no word on pricing.
You may well ask who Jean-Pierre Wimille is, and the answer to that is that he was a French racing driver, as well as a member of the French Resistance during World War II. He died at the wheel of a Simca-Gordini during practice runs for the 1949 Buenos Aires Grand Prix.
Getting back to the car that honours his memory, it retains the standard (if such an engine could be called ‘standard’) 8.0-litre W16 powerplant that propels the 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse.
Cranking out a stupefying 882kW and 1500Nm, this motor enables the Bug to sprint from 0-100km/h in 2.6sec, on its way to a v-max of 408.84km/h with the top down (the Vitesse holds the world speed record for open-top production sports cars).
The Jean-Pierre Wimille edition is more about aesthetics and history than any added functionality, and its two-tone bodywork pays tribute to the 1937 Le Mans-winning Type 57G ‘Tank’, which wore the blue paint characteristic of French racing cars of the era.
The front and flanks (until just aft of the doors) are painted in “Bleu Wimille” paint, while the upper part of the front wing panels remains in dark blue exposed carbon, in the process mimicking the historic racing car’s “Wimille stripes”.
The blue theme extends to the cabin, with the headliner, footwells, and seat inserts upholstered in “Bleu Wimille”, with the dark blue seat bolsters offering contrast. Dark blue leather is also used on the dash panel, centre console and doors.
As an added homage to Wimille, the steering wheel and gearshift lever feature decorative stitching in the French national colors of blue, white and red. Meanwhile, the headrests have been embellished with the stitched signature of Jean-Pierre Wimille.
References to Le Mans can also be found in the Bugatti’s interior as the silhouette of the la Sarthe race circuit gleams as a milled and polished aluminium relief below the EB logo in the carbonfibre lid of the rear centerbox.
Further Legends-specific features include exposed carbon inserts in the centre console extension bearing the “Les Légendes de Bugatti” logo with the familiar Bugatti elephant, while the doorsill plates feature the portrait and signature of Jean-Pierre Wimille.
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Written byGautam Sharma
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