Technical Excellence

The Bugatti Veyron. A feat of engineering excellence, garnished with the pure brilliance that is called ambition. Bugatti, owned by Volkswagen, has been in the game for a long time, they have a pedigree of creating outrageous super cars, most notably the Quad turbo, 16 cylinder, 1001 bhp mammoth Veyron. This car is genius at work, a technical masterpiece. The specs on this car are overwhelming: North - 60 in 2.5 secs, yes that is now.....and now.......and now. It tops out at an astonishing 253 MPH (408 kph). Some of the lesser known facts are quite astonishing as well. If left to its own devices at full throttle, the 100 litre gas tank would run out in 12 minutes and 45 seconds, a mere 2 minutes and 15 seconds before the tires would melt off the alloys. Take into account the cost of 1.5 million US, and then consider that Bugatti is still losing money on every sale, and you soon find yourself seeing why Bugatti is a true automotive enthusiast. This car is not about making it rain. This car is about flexing its Godly muscle in a forum that hasn't seen such a accomplishment.

To point out the audacious speed the Veyron possesses, take the McLaren F1. Until the Veyron hit the scene, the 240 MPH F1 was the fastest production car in the world. To lament the Veyron's out of this world status; in a drag race you could let the McLaren get to 120mph before setting off in the Veyron. And you’d still get to 200mph first. The Bugatti is way, way faster than anything else the roads have seen.

Tragically, I believe that cars like this will become extinct in the not-so distant future. Instead of pushing the envelope of speed and acceleration, we have resorted to saving an environment that will maintain itself anyway. But that is beside the point. We are losing the drive to build such masterpieces. Pressures from the environmentalists and the edgy economy have turned super cars into an enemy of green. It is sad, because feats of engineering such as this are frowned upon. Creativity has been turned into planting a tree rather then keeping a car on the ground at a speed that would easily allow a 800,000 lb airplane to take off.

But at this juncture we should still marvel at a drying breed. While these achievements may become lesser known, we should still acknowledge the contrivance. Jeremy Clarkson puts it this way: It is a triumph for lunacy over common sense, a triumph for man over nature and a triumph for Volkswagen over absolutely every other car maker in the world.