Bugatti's Chief Designer Drives

Bugatti designer's weekend toy is the polar opposite of a Veyron.

When you're the head of design for an automaker like Bugatti, you can bet that people will pay attention to what you drive. And as part of the burgeoning Volkswagen Group, you'll have your pick of a wide variety of cars. (Well, almost anything - Achim Andscheidt may not be a starving artist, but we doubt he's a multimillionaire capable of buying one of his own designs, either.) So what does the designer at the most prestigious auto marque in the world drive? Drive caught up with the designer in Berlin to check out his stripped-out 1982Porsche 911.

Andscheidt replaced the zinc-coated opening bodywork with Kevlar, ditched heavy glass for plexi and stripped out the interior to beautiful detail with a pair of houndstooth seats. The result weighs just 820 kilograms, and is undoubtedly cool, but as far as German-engineered sportscars go, it's about as far from a Veyron as you could get.

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Bugatti Launches One-Off Grand Sport Vitesse “Gris Rafale” at Sao Paulo Show

Displaying an existing car in a new color at an international auto show is not something worth mentioning. The Bugatti Veyron, however, is as far as removed from 99.9 percent of the cars sold on the planet that it can afford to do so and still make headlines.

With the 1,182HP (1200PS) Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport being now the sole model in Bugatti’s range, the VW Group’s most exclusive brand is keen on launching one-off versions to keep interest going – and in the process, make a nifty profit.

Bugatti has announced that it will bring the model in Brazil (so form an orderly queue, please) and the one-off Grand Sport Vitesse “Gris Rafale” that was launched at the Sao Paulo auto show was the perfect way to celebrate the occasion.

The new version is named after its grey paint and sports blue accents on the A-pillars, the roof arches, the rollover hoops that incorporate the engine’s air intakes and the air brake.

In the interior, the “Gris Rafale” features “lake blue” leather and contrasting light grey stitching.

If you have to ask, you probably can’t afford it anyway, but for the record, the “Gris Rafale” goes for €1.9 million (US$2.5 million), or €210,000 (US$280,000) more than the “regular” Veyron Grand Vitesse.

Which, you'll be glad to know, is exactly the asking price for the previous one-off Veyron, the white and baby blue car that we saw last month in Paris.

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