Bugatti Veyron Pur Sang on Sale for $4.8m
Here's a tip you won't get from Warren Buffet: invest in Bugatti. You may recall Stephen Wilkinson's less than flattering blog post on the launch of a Bugatti with a slightly lightened version of it's 1,000+hp ubercar, the Veyron Pur Sang. It used a little more carbon fiber, avoided paint for exterior aluminum bits, weighed 200 pounds less and cost €1.4 million ($2.1 million). That was then. Today, finecars has one of the five Pur Sangs on sale for the "fixed price" of 3.2 million Euros. That's 4.8 million McDonald's cheeseburgers to you and me. Assuming some sucker a discerning car buyer shells out nearly $5m for the fastest ever Volkswagen, the seller will have made a tidy 230 percent profit. See? I knew that was going to happen. I really am in the wrong line of work…
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If they can find a buyer at that price, then I applaud them. I'd be horrified that someone with that much money is that stupid. But I'd applaud the seller for being able to separate a fool and his money.
Pur-sang does literally mean pure blood in French. However, not every literal translation is an accurate translation. It would not necessarily be correct to translate "guts" from English into "intestines" in another language, if the word guts is used in the sense of fortitude and courage. Pur-sang in French has the idiomatic meaning of Thoroughbred. [see below] I am sure that is the meaning that Ettore Bugatti intended when he applied the term to his automobiles. Most of the early Bugattis were racing cars, the analogy of Thoroughbreds, which are race horses, was what he was undoubtedly trying to achieve. Le Pur-sang anglais (Thoroughbred en anglais) est une race équine. L'appellation officielle est pur-sang, l'abréviation officielle est PS, l'appellation pur-sang anglais étant, aux yeux des puristes, un pléonasme. Translation: The Pur-sang anglais (Thoroughbred in English) is a breed of horses. The official name is "pur-sang", and the official abbreviation is PS, the name "English Thoroughbred" being, in the eyes of purists, a redundancy. An example: In France the movie "Seabiscuit" was titled "Pur sang, la légende de Seabiscuit"
Pur Sang, if the car sells, can be roughly translated as 'complete idiot'.
$4.8M is a lot of dollars, sure, but if you think about it for a moment, not that outrageous for this kind of car. You may have heard of the Ferrari P4/5, a one-off based on the Enzo, commissioned by a billionaire enthusiast. That car cost him $5 million. Some of the 1930's Bugatti's at Pebble Beach fetch in the $4-$5 million range. This Pur Sang is, after-all, one of only 5 in existence (basically one for each continent), and may go on to be the most capable road-car ever produced, and for a few lifetimes even: as alternate-energy, fuel-efficiency and environmental-friendliness dominate and dictate vehicle design, I really don't think we'll ever see a road-going 1,001 hp car ever again. We certainly will not see a 16-cylinder car ever again either. Nor a 400 km/h car (~250mph) car. Nothing like the Veyron has ever existed, and, very plausibly, nothing ever will. All in all, I'm starting to think $4.8M is actually a decent investment, Warren Buffet's advice notwithstanding. FWIW, the car does nothing for me emotionally (but ask me how I felt when I saw a Carrera GT zoom past me on a mountain road -- whoa!).