400 kilometres and some, in a single hour! In 2005, there was nothing on this planet that could go that fast and stay on the road. At the 2005 Italian Grand Prix in Monza, McLaren-Mercedes driver Juan Pablo Montoya set a top speed record in Formula One at 372.6 kmph. That was September 2005. The same month, Bugatti launched the Veyron. With its 1001HP W16 quad turbo engine, the Veyron was capable of getting up to a top speed of over 400 kmph. The road-legal Bugatti could beat an F1 car’s top speed.
Over the next ten years, the Veyron remained at the pinnacle of automotive engineering with an open-top version making its debut in 2008 and then an even more powerful 1200HP Super Sport version hitting Bugatti showrooms. The last one, a Grand Sport Vitesse, ostentatiously named La Finalé was sold in early 2015, and thereafter the Veyron has remained firmly embedded in automotive history and as posters on walls.
The Veyron story, however, began on a train. Back in 1997, the then chairman of the Volkswagen Group, Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Karl Piëch, was travelling on the Shinkansen in Japan. The speed of the train, combined with its luxurious and comfortable presentation, inspired Piëch to sketch a vision of an 18-cylinder engine on the back of an envelope. This unique engine with 18 cylinders arranged in a W configuration went on to become the core of the Veyron’s genesis story. Piëch’s idea that a car would exceed 400 kmph while still offering comfort, elegance, and usability – much like the Shinkansen, eventually pushed the VW Group-owned French brand into the realms of automotive witchcraft.
In 1998, soon after Bugatti’s acquisition by the VW Group, Piëch brought in the legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign to give life to his idea. The result was the EB 118, which was revealed to the world at the 1998 Paris Motor Show. Giorgetto’s interpretation of Piëch’s vision turned out to be a grand touring coupé. Under its long sweeping bonnet lay a 555HP 6.3-litre naturally aspirated W18 engine. Art Deco-inspired design elements and artisanal craftsmanship on the inside created the aura of luxury that Bugatti is known for.
Soon after, at the Geneva Motor Show in 1999, came the Bugatti EB 218. Also designed by Giugiaro, the EB 218 was a luxury saloon based on an earlier EB 112. Longer than the EB 118, this four-door saloon was a complete departure from the grand touring coupé of the previous year.
The credit for the radical move away from a front-engine layout that had been shown till then came in September of 1999, when Giorgetto’s son Fabrizio, under his father’s tutelage, conceived the EB 18/3 Chiron. For the first time, Piëch’s idea was translated as an undiluted two-seat sports car with that W18 engine placed between the two axles.
The change dramatically altered the car’s stance and proportions, becoming instantly more focused on that all-important target of 400 kmph. Aerodynamic efficiencies became a critical aspect of design for the first time. Then came the EB 18/4, which was the first of the stepping stones to the Veyron to be crafted by Volkswagen’s very own team under the leadership of Hartmut Warkuß. The car's exterior styling was done by Jozef Kabaň. The EB 18/4 was more compact and even more focused than Fabrizio’s EB 18/3.
The final step in the direction of the 400kmph came with moving away from Piëch’s original idea of a W18 engine. In 2000, Bugatti decided to build a new engine – an 8-litre W16 engine with four turbochargers to create an output of 1001HP. Back then, outside the world of Formula One, 1000HP in an automobile engine was unheard of. The complete idea of the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 was shown at the IAA Mobility Show in Frankfurt in 2001, with the car going on sale four years later.
As a fitting tribute to the iconic Veyron 16.4, the 2025 Bugatti Festival in Molsheim celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Veyron. To mark this milestone, and as an homage to the original idea penned by Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Karl Piëch, Bugatti has revealed a special '20 Years of Veyron' logo incorporating the French tricolour with Pierre Veyron’s signature.
In case you’re wondering who he was, Pierre was Bugatti’s racing driver, test driver, and development engineer in the 1930s, the peak of Bugatti’s racing legacy. It is Pierre’s name that the Veyron has worn with pride and humility since its birth two decades ago.
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