Beyond imagination

Bugatti scares me. It did an amazing job with the Veyron supercar, and I'm glad it finally laid claim to the number one spot (well, depending on who you talk to) in the supercar world. Gordon Murray was right when he said people should stop focusing on top speed and fastest acceleration because they're not what supercars should be all about. Picture yourself behind the wheel of the Veyron and you can tell yourself you have the fastest car in the world. Then what? Where can you take the car to 254mph/407kph? Are you even good enough to drive that fast? As Bugatti prepares to close the Veyron's run, it unleashes another potential speed monstrosity upon us, only this time it has four doors. They call it the Bugatti 16 C Galibier concept. Four doors doesn't mean Bugatti is making it more practical, it's not intended to reach a broader, more family-oriented market; they just want future owners to be able to show their friends how insane this car is. Power will come from a 16-cylinder, supercharged 8-liter engine; the body is made of carbon fiber parts that were colored blue; it has four-wheel drive and ceramic brakes. And here's a neat feature. Remember that popular saying among watch aficionados about not being able to bring your sports car inside the boardroom? Swiss watchmaker Parmigiani made the Reverso Tourbillion removable clock for the Galibier, it is mounted inside the car but can be worn on the wrist of the driver thanks to a specially designed leather strap. It's hard to imagine any carmaker building a car like this, and harder to imagine who it's for. But if anyone can pull it off, I wouldn't bet against Bugatti. It already made the Veyron, all it did was make an ever so slightly watered down four-door version.