“In Louis Chiron, we found a worthy patron for a new model in the history of our brand. The name of the best racing driver and the most successful Bugatti driver of his time for the best super sports car of the present day – that is the ideal combination.” Those words were spoken by Bugatti president Wolfgang Dürheimer. Indeed, Chiron was a tour-de-force to be reckoned with in Grand Prix racing. At the turn of the century, Louis Chiron was a former army truck driver who wanted to race, but he started out his career not dealing with automobiles, but as a professional dance partner at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo, Monaco. His job was to sweep women off of their feet and onto the dance floor, and we believe that he might have been damn good at that job because is it believed that his Bugatti was paid for by a wealthy woman who was impressed with his moves. How else does a 26-year-old get a brand-new Bugatti? Because pre-war, Chiron was a force to be reckoned with, and post-war he not only raced, but oversaw the Monaco Grand Prix until his death in 1979.

It is fitting, then, that the new Bugatti Chiron be named in his honor. If you are seeing bit of Veyron in it’s overall design, you aren’t wrong, but you aren’t completely right, either. Over several hundred pounds heavier than the outgoing Veyron, the Chiron is still a potent – and expensive with a capital “F” – weapon: For your $2.6 million dollars, you get near as anyone cares 1,500 horsepower from the 8.0L quad-turbocharged W-16, which blasts the power through a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox that Bugatti claims has the largest high-performance clutch ever fitted to a production car. It better have, because if the torque figure of 1,180 ft/lbs of torque is accurate, the trans will need every grain of grip that clutch can offer. Top speed target: 261 miles an hour. Oh, and the tires on this car are easier to install, lowering operating costs…because anyone who can afford to drop $2.6 million on a car is really  bothered. The interior is as sumptuous as a car in that price range had damn well better be. And in all black, this is one mean mother to look at. The Veyron looked like someone spent money and some even looked classy, but the Chiron just looks like it wants to kick your ass in.

But why did Bugatti even bother making another, even faster version of the Veyron, a car that was so jaw-droppingly advanced when it appeared that even today, a decade after the car first appeared, that it is still the unequivocal benchmark for the top tier of cars? Easy: Hennessey Venom GT. Bugatti is bent on being THE top car in the speed war, and the Chiron is the point-blank range shot to the forehead of Hennessey’s hot-rodded, Viper engined Lotus Exige. It’s all about the bragging rights, and there are plenty of people who are ready to pay for the privilege. Bugatti is planning on making 500 Chirons, and at least two-thirds of them are spoken for.

Carfection was lucky enough to get to hear the monster bellow…check it out!