New car news

05 August 2008 - 11:00

Bug out

Good car, the Bugatti Veyron. Not too shabby. Only problem is, it's a bit common nowadays, isn't it? You can't head past a supermarket car park or evil millionaire megalomaniac's secret headquarters without seeing a Bug parked out the front.

What you need for real exclusivity is one of these: the Grand Sport. Or the targa Veyron, if you prefer: either way, it might just be the most extreme convertible the world has ever seen. Or ever will see.

Yes, the Veyron has lost its top. The Grand Sport retains the Veyron's faintly absurd eight-litre, twin-turbo W16 engine, but dispenses of the fixed roof in favour of a clear, removable hard-top panel.

We don't know too much about how Bugatti has fixed the potential issue of scuttle shake at 200-and-something mph, but the engineers claim to have reinforced the Veyron with 'innovative structural solutions'. Some sort of girder arrangement, we presume.

The W16's air intakes have also been revised to cope with the Grand Sport's, erm, unique aerodynamic challenges. The aerodynamic challenges of keeping 987bhp on the road, and the driver's and passenger's heads on their bodies.

Aside from that - and new daytime LED running lights, which you'll have spotted, obviously - it all looks stock Veyron: hardly a bad thing. No word on price or production run yet, but we'll find out more when the Grand Sport is formally unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concourse d'Elegance later this month.

If that removable hard top has got you worrying about getting caught out in the rain with no protection, fear not: Top Gear's complex calculations have proved that the Veyron is actually quick enough to outrun gravity. You'll be lovely and dry. And penniless. But dry.