I guess I just don't get it. Are some people looking at this car the same way I looked at a Cobra in 1966 and having a life-shaping experience?
The front end looks like female reproductive anatomy. That's great on a female but not on the front of a car. The interior looks like, what, a 1957 T-bird? That's OK on a two-seater T-bird (which I also happen to like) but it's a little retro on the fastest car in the world in 2003.
To me, it looks like a car being built to be "the mostest" something. Another "mostest" will come along and surpass it and then it will look dated. It's a car built to sell to the guy who has to have the fastest or the biggest or the most expensive or...whatever. For now.
Call me a Philistine if you will, but I'm afraid I have to compare every such car with the ultimate automotive yardstick (in my limited scope): the Cobra, which was built as nothing more than a tool to do a specific job. The fact that it succeeded so handsomely is, in large part, what made it so attractive. Well, that and the fact that it's powered by a good ol' American V-8 and the big, fat tires and the rumpity exhaust and the fabulous body which NEVER seems to go out of style and the fact that people who have no idea what it is just go nuts over it and on and on...
I'll bet you'll enjoy your ERA much more than you would a Veyron!
I think the Cobra and Veyron are definitely apples and oranges. They Veyron is an exotic and everything about it is just that. The Cobra is a muscle car...pure simple power
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"There are 10 types of people out there....the ones that understand binary and the zeros that don't."
Oh, sure, I know that. But somehow, and it's only my humble opinion, I can't get all that worked up about a car which was built strictly to sell to some guy who just has to have the most exotic car of the moment. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that, to me, a car like that is only significant for bragging rights until the next more exotic car comes along; then it's old news. I think I'd be sort of, well, embarrassed to drive a car like that. But...How boring would it me if we all liked the same cars. Wait a minute...we DO all like the same cars. Well, the same car, anyway!
However that is one bad a$$ piece of machinery. The problem with "looks" seems to be aerodynamics. What looks really "cool" (cobra, diablo, etc) is not the most slippery at speed. It's too bad that with today's lousy roads and even worse drivers, the true potential of this type of creation cannot be safely used on the freeway.
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I'd run it in the Interstate Freeway 500 NASCAR is thinking about for their newest "track" offering.....LOL
Ernie
Edit:
Hey, wait a minute. Is this a "real" Bugatti? The father left Italy in 1904 for France (of all places) where the cars have been built ever since. Then VW buys it and Germans style it!
OK,,,so what we have now is "world class" car! That wasn't as hard to figure out as I thought it would be,
Last edited by Excaliber; 09-11-2003 at 09:05 PM..
Cobra Make, Engine: 1968 AC COBRA COB 6132, 427 SC Side Oiler the last original AC chassis built for Paramount
Posts: 537
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At Laguna Seca last month during the Monterey Historic races, the driver showing the Veyron's potential off during the lunch break over-cooked it into turn one and spun out. Fortunately he missed the concrete barrier and the only skidmarks left were on the course and in his underwear. I can't imagine what happenned to the poor chap as all the top brass of Volkswagen as well as Bugatti were there. Had he crashed the car, it would have been totalled and he would not have been able to pace the following vintage Bugatti race or be part of the display at the putting green at Pebble Beach the next day. The 1000hp, W16, 4 wheel drive, 4 turbos was mighty impressive carrying a high speed on the straightaway leading up to turn one but no matter how good the car was its up to the driver's skill.
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Enjoy the six pleasures of life: Good Health, Good Food, Good Friends, Good Sleep, Good Sex, and Driving your Cobra
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All submitted text is my own opinion, not that of Kirkham Motorsports.
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Last edited by Steve Kirkham; 09-12-2003 at 08:50 AM..
Cobra Make, Engine: SPF #821,Southern Automotive 427 Side Oiler w/2x4
Posts: 687
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I seem to recall reading in the Wall Street Journal that the CEO took that thing out for a spin and releaved the guy incharge of the project apparently it doesn't run or handle any better than it looks
Cobra Make, Engine: Superformance #243 - 351W stroked to 418
Posts: 456
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After completing only one lap, I was wondering if the embarrassing off-road demonstration at Laguna Seca was a result of cold tires.
I'm sure it resulted in a warm load in the driver's pants, regardless.
Quote "In the real world, this 736kW and 1250Nm combines with the 7-speed, all-wheel drive transmission and a 1600kg kerb weight to propel the Bugatti Veyron to 100km/h from rest in 2.9 seconds. That's very quick."
What is kerb???
Although this performance is impressive, it seems I recall a road test in R & T of Shelbys twin paxton supercharged 427 with a C-6 three speed automatic...If my memory serves me correctly, I believe it did 0-60 in 2.8 seconds.
Not too shabby for a car that was built 35 years ago.
Bugatti Veyron
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