Bugatti Veyron returns: F.K.P. Hommage edition is a last dance for the concorde of the road
This one-of-one creation reimagines the legendary Veyron, refining the iconic design and adding even more power
Mesdames et Messieurs, allow us to present the Bugatti F.K.P. Hommage: a truly exquisite one-off reimagining of the legendary Bugatti Veyron, a car which changed the world two decades ago and still stands as a marvel of automotive engineering. The car has been commissioned from Bugatti by an unnamed customer.
But not only is this a homage to what was, for a time, the world’s fastest production car, it’s a tribute to the man whose vision it was, Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Karl Piëch, with its initials giving this car its name.
During his tenure as chairman of the Volkswagen Group, he pushed for the acquisition of the languishing Bugatti brand and laid out the vision for the original Veyron. As Hendrik Malinowski, managing director of Bugatti, put it; Piëch “was a man who saw the impossible not as a roadblock but as a challenge.
“His vision for Bugatti was absolute: 1,000 horsepower, 400 km/h top speed, all-wheel drive, and refined enough to arrive at the opera in a tuxedo or a ball gown. The F.K.P. Hommage celebrates this uncompromising pursuit of excellence, combining the timeless proportions of the original Veyron with two decades of engineering evolution."
The F.K.P. Hommage is based on the Veyron’s successor, the Bugatti Chiron, but the chassis and almighty W16 engine are cloaked in bespoke carbon fibre bodywork. The design maintains the iconic shape of the original but has been subtly refined in several areas. For instance, the new three-dimensional horseshoe grille machined from a solid block of aluminium now flows more organically into surrounding bodywork.
Larger air intakes were required to feed the more powerful engine, while the Veyron’s signature air ducts, located right behind the occupants’ heads, have carried forward. Elsewhere, there are new, much slimmer headlights and new wheels – 20-inch up front, 21-inch on the rear – utilising Michelin’s latest tyre technology.
The distinctive two-tone red and black paint scheme was not a random choice by the F.K.P. Hommage’s mysterious (not to mention very lucky) owner by the way; it’s the same paint scheme worn by the first-ever Veyron ever made back in 2005.
Bugatti Design Director Frank Heyl said "the Veyron was the first of its kind, and in the world of collectible automobiles, the first and last of a kind are always the most significant. It created an entirely new segment – the million-euro hypercar that could travel to the opera in the evening and break speed records by day.
“When I first arrived at Bugatti, I was sketching developments of the Veyron, looking at how we could evolve the styling; ultimately these projects never came to fruition, but it feels almost as though Prof. Dr. Piëch could see we would have a need for them one day.”
The interior features a unique steering wheel, centre console and tunnel cover that were machined from blocks of solid aluminium, and more closely resembles the design of those in the Bugatti EB 18.4 Veyron concept which was unveiled in 1999. But the centrepiece of the dashboard is an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon watch, which was integrated on request from the car’s owner.
Bugatti’s 8.0-litre quad-turbocharged W16 engine that was used in the Veyron and the Chiron still stands as an extraordinary feat of packaging. By staggering cylinders in a short and wide-bank configuration, engineers compressed what would typically be a meter-long powerplant into just 645 millimetres. This in turn allowed for the Veyron's remarkably compact 2,700mm wheelbase – about the same as a BMW 3 Series.
The F.K.P. Hommage is powered by the final and more powerful evolution of the W16 engine borrowed from the Chiron Super Sport, with its 1,578bhp allowing that car to fulfil Piëch's ambitions of going beyond 300mph. Compared to the Veyron’s ‘mere’ 987bhp version of this engine, it has larger turbochargers, enhanced intercoolers, upgraded cooling systems, and a reinforced gearbox capable of withstanding the colossal 1,600Nm of torque it also produces.
The F.K.P. Hommage is the second creation from Bugatti's Solitaire programme, which apparently will only produce up to two bespoke ‘masterpieces’ each year. Each one sees the designers completely reimagine the bodywork and interior of whatever car is serving as the base. The Programme also delivers the ultimate personalisation experience for customers, often drawing from Bugatti’s rich heritage.
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