Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse (2012) revealed

This is the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse, and it’s quite possibly the world’s fastest convertible. It will be unveiled at the Geneva motor show in March 2012.

Effectively the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse is what you get when you cross the open-top body of the Veyron Grand Sport with the monstrous 1183bhp powertrain of the Veyron Super Sport.

Yes. Vitesse is French for speed, and it’s a catchier name than amalgamating Grand Sport and Super Sport. As for what it is…

Like all Veyrons the Vitesse has an 8.0-litre engine, with the cubic capacity split between 16 cylinders (in a ‘W’ formation) and fed air by four turbochargers (hence the 16.4 moniker).  If a Veyron can ever be called normal, then 987bhp and 922lb ft are outputs of a 'normal' Veyron.

But the Veyron Vitesse has had the same tweaks as the Veyron Super Sport, meaning enlarged turbochargers and bigger intercoolers, so peak power is now 1183bhp (1200PS) and maximum torque is 1106lb ft. Other Super Sport-influenced changes include a modified chassis to handle the extra power and new front and rear bumpers as part of a tweaked aerodynamic package.

‘The rapid success of the Super Sport convinced us to increase the performance of the Bugatti roadster,’ said Bugatti president Wolfgang Dürheimer.

‘Once again our engineers worked hard to demonstrate that Bugatti is able to constantly redefine the boundaries of what is technically feasible. We gave our all to transfer the achievements of the Super Sport over to the Grand Sport, thereby turning open-top driving itself into an extraordinary experience at high speed.’

Bugatti only ever built 30 Veyron Super Sports, and we expect the Vitesse to be even more exclusive.

The Veyron SS holds the current world speed record for a road car (at 269mph, though it’s limited to 259mph to protect the tyres) but Bugatti has yet to release any acceleration or top speed figures for the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse.

No word on prices either, but we’d reckon you’ll need about £2m for one of these. Start saving now...

By Ben Pulman