It is hard to attract a crowd on Broadway. It takes something like a Bugatti Veyron, suitably roped off to get bystanders to notice. And that is what you need to wear, automotive wise, in NYC to get gawkers. Photo by Werner Pfister.
Story and photos by Werner Pfister
Not one but two Bugattis debuted on Broadway recently. A White Grand Sport and an all Blue Carbon Fiber Super Sport were displayed in front of the landmark Sardi’s Restaurant on West 44th Street in New York. It is most appropriate that the latest Bugattis had their coming out party at Sardi’s which is a Broadway institution after being located continuously for 90 years in the Theater District.
Sardi’s is most famous for the caricatures of famous entertainers that grace the walls of the restaurant. Legend has it that artist Alex Gard would get paid in kind for the pictures, receiving two meals a day. We are not sure if a caricature of the Veyron is in the restaurant though. Not one but two Veyrons pull up to Sardi’s. Photo by Werner Pfister.
Fifty Bugatti Club members and about 10,000 very surprised Broadway matinee goers were treated to a glimpse of about $ 5 million in car technology embodied in two ultra-high performance automobiles. Bugatti USA’s John Hill, as well as Bugatti’s American based driver, the accomplished Daytona 24 Hour and Le Mans race driver, Butch Leitzinger brought the cars and answered questions.
After the luncheon, John Hill provided an update on Bugatti production at their Molsheim, France factory. John indicated that almost all 300 planned Bugatti Veyrons had been sold. This total will likely sort out to about 45 of the ultra-high performance Super Sport models and about 255 of the standard Veyrons. Although these cars have almost been sold out, actual completion of the final 300th unit will not take place until next year.
Almost all sold out of the Super Sport and coupe versions of the Veyron, Bugatti is concentrating on the convertible version, called the Grand Sport. Photo by Werner Pfister.
In the meantime, Bugatti will concentrate the majority of its sales effort on its open top, Grand Sport version. This is the open version of the Veyron Coupe and features a glass removable targa top. Unfortunately, the top is too large to fit in the car. As a result, once the top is removed it has to be affixed to a bracket mounted in your garage. If the weather turns bad there is an umbrella. Yes, this is no joke; the car comes with an umbrella which is stored in the trunk. Once unfurled, the umbrella takes on a rectangular shape not unlike the opening over the driver and passenger’s heads. A quick pull down, locks the umbrella into the opening. Then the only thing left to do is to unclip the umbrella handle and step on the gas to go fast! Bugatti claims the soft top is good to 100 mph, but we have heard that it will stay on long beyond that official speed limit.
One of the rare all blue Carbon Fiber Super Sport coupes get raves from pedestrians. Notably, current restaurant owner Max Klimavicius appears next to a blue Bugatti T57 convertible on the Sardi.com website. Photo by Werner Pfister.
While the Super Sport with its 1,200 horsepower claims title to being the fastest production car in the world at almost 270 mph, the Grand Sport with its modest 1,001 horsepower is still capable of 253 mph+ and is most likely the fastest convertible in the world. I had the pleasure of driving the Grand Sport recently and it is a very different ride from the Veyron. First, whether the glass top is on or off, the Grand Sport’s interior is pleasantly much more illuminated than the Veyron or Super Sport. I do not want to imply that the standard Veyron is claustrophobic, but there is a marked difference in driving the Grand Sport. Second, without any roof on, the open top car offers a sound that is much better. Because your ears are but a few inches below the wide open engine air intakes, the occupants are treated to a supernatural howling sound. Simultaneous to experiencing the Grand Sports’ brutal and unrelenting acceleration, your ears are treated to the sound of steel knives being sharpened against flint!
Sardi’s was founded by Italian immigrant Vincent Sardi Sr. in 1921. Next to the restaurant and behind the Veryon is the Helen Hayes Theater, another Broadway Landmark. What a way to arrive in style at the Bugatti Club luncheon. Photo by Werner Pfister.
John Hill also mentioned that Bugatti would continue to produce the Grand Sport for the next 2-3 years with a final production of around 100 units. Then Bugatti may follow up with their recently revealed Galibier 4 door sedan. This proposed new model will also feature the Veyron’s 8 Liter, 16 cylinder engine but will have two superchargers instead of the current 4 turbos. Unlike the Veyron, Super Sport and Grand Sport models where the engine is placed mid-ship, the Galibier will have the engine placed in the front of the driver.
Now, more than a dozen years after the VW-Audi Group purchased Bugatti, this famous marque is alive and well and breaking a leg on Broadway!
Ok, where is the top? Well, it doesn’t fit in the car when not in use. So there is an umbrella. Werner is working on photos of that. Photo by Werner Pfister.
While there may have been 50 Bugatti Club members present, the event is the monthly gathering of the legendary Madison Avenue Sports Car Driving and Chowder Society (at Sardi’s since 1957). Bugatti used that gathering of well connected—and many well-funded—marketing and advertising and media professionals to exhibit its treasures.
Exciting stuff. There is nothing like an all-powerful well crafted spaceship to ignite the senses. Too expensive and impractical, always. Too fast and beyond the pale, never.
As one who has been fortunate enough to ride in the new Veyron, I can attest to the awesome sound and fury of being hurled down the road in a controlled tornado. Yowza.
Pete,
Thanks for re-running this piece, I missed it the first time around. I was fortunate to attend a similar event, a few years earlier on 12 Apr 2008. Bill Milliken (my father) was invited to talk to the Bugatti Club at Sardi’s. Only one Veyron that time, with a very good crowd gathered in the street. Unfortunately our flight was delayed, so we didn’t have much time to look at the new car–went straight in to get lunch!
Bill told the story of installing a Dynaflow in the Type 54 “Big Bug”, perhaps the first time an automatic transmission was used in a race car. A small plug here — the story is told in detail in Bill’s autobiography, “Equations of Motion”.
— Doug