The Bugatti Veyron Made the World Betterillustration by Julie Murphy / Photo by Bugatti (illustration by Julie Murphy / Photo by Bugatti)After 20 years, the Bugatti Veyron has proven to be more than a vanity project for Ferdinand Piech. More than a technological moonshot for Volkswagen Group. It’s even more than a six-figure ego tripper for socially irresponsible billionaires. Yes, it’s all those ridiculous things, but it’s also proven to be a harbinger. We live in the future the Veyron made. And that’s why it’s one of the 21st century’s most important cars.I once drove a Veyron, for a very short time, almost 20 years ago. And had more seat time in its successor, the Chiron, five years ago. Yet the opportunity to get into a Veyron again this May in Orange County, California, still made my palms sweat in anticipation. And my palms sweat only after the rest of my body has already drenched itself in perspiration.The Veyron as it sat in the Bugatti of Newport Beach showroom awaiting my drive.Hearst Owned (Hearst Owned)Back in 1990, Chevrolet was rocking the world with its new Corvette ZR-1 rated at an astonishing 375 hp. The Porsche 928 GT only had 326 hp from its 5.0-liter V-8. And the Ferrari Testarossa was making do with 380 hp. Dodge had shown the Viper concept car at the 1989 Detroit Auto Show, but there wasn’t yet any guarantee it would make it into production. And in 1990, over in Italy, a revivified Bugatti opened its new factory in anticipation of beginning production of the EB110 the next year.AdvertisementAdvertisementPerformance is always evaluated in the context of its time. And cars like the ZR-1, Testarossa, and 928 GT were truly quick machines for their era. But it was an era when it seemed about 400 hp was as much power as any street-legal car would ever have. After the economic miasma of the 1970s and indulgent 1980s, at best, the 1990s promised to be uncertain.It’s been around for 20 years. People still stop, stare, and shout out at it.Bugatti (Bugatti)Then things got good. The EB110 turned out to be the first true hypercar when it appeared in 1991. “The EB110 was packed with innovation,” explained R&T’s Mike Duff in 2024. “It was one of the first road cars to use a carbon-fiber structure and would have also gotten composite brakes if it had proved possible to make them bite at low temperatures. The gearbox and huge engine were mounted in parallel to save space. Together they sent power through an all-wheel-drive system that could direct different amounts of torque to each axle.”All those innovations were aboard to serve the quad-turbo, 3.5-liter V-12 that made 553 hp. During R&T’s top-speed comparison test in 1995, it was the evolved 611-hp EB110 S that was the fastest car at the event, running out to 213.1 mph (minus side mirrors). The McLaren F1 didn’t make it to that test, but at that moment, it’s likely the EB110 S was the fastest production car.Throughout the 1990s, the highest-end sports, exotic, and hypercars only got quicker and faster. But, still, a four-figure horsepower rating seemed an absurd fantasy. Then, when the Veyron appeared in 2005, the absurd fantasy became an absurd reality.Ideal for chasing horizons.Bugatti (Bugatti)“Forget the 660-hp Ferrari Enzo,” wrote R&T’s Patrick Hong for the January 2006 issue, “the 605-hp Porsche Carrera GT, the 617-hp Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, or even the might 627-hp McLaren F1. These supercars are simply slugs compared with the new 2006 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 (16.4 for 16 cylinders, 4 turbochargers). This $1.2 million ‘hyper-exotic’ boasts 987-hp (1001 metric horsepower) and 922 lb.-ft. of torque, enough to propel the 4160-lb. beast to a top speed of over 250 mph. And according to the factory, a 0-62 mph acceleration run (0-100 km/h) can be done in 2.5 seconds, 0-124 mph can be reached in 7.3 seconds and 0-186 mph in 16.7 seconds, faster than you can read and comprehend the astonishing stats.”AdvertisementAdvertisementIt was that burst beyond 1000 hp that makes the Veyron so important. It wasn’t just that the big Bug was tremendously quick, but that it was otherwise so benign. The Veyron was never nervy or anxious; it was sophisticated and untemperamental. A 1000-hp car of overwhelming performance, that was, nevertheless, composed enough to drive every day in traffic.No screens. No haptic feedback. No digital anything.Bugatti (Bugatti)This new opportunity to drive a Veyron came as Bugatti launches an online configuration tool for Veyron owners looking to mutate the Veyron they have into the Veyron they crave. Many acquired their speed demons as used cars and may want to tweak them to their own taste. Or original owners who would like to freshen their cars to better reflect the tastes and vibes of a world that’s now in the second quarter of the 21st century.Bugatti of Newport Beach isn’t in Newport Beach, but in Irvine, on Auto Center Drive, down the street from the Honda, Chevy, and Genesis stores. The dealership shares its building with the Lamborghini outlet and acreage with Koenigsegg and McLaren showrooms. It’s oddly discordant to see such blisteringly exotic machinery amid such an ordinary auto mall. But there, all in white, the subject Veyron was in Bugatti’s space looking imperious and overwhelming. The McLarens nearby seemed common, and the Urus SUVs filling much of the lot may as well have been CR-Vs. Two decades on, the Veyron still has enough visual pull to dilate onlookers’ pupils.It’s 16 cylinders, four cams, 64 valves, four turbos... why hide it?Bugatti (Bugatti)Driving the Veyron in 2026 is to indulge in analog nostalgia. Start the car, and the 8.0-liter W-16’s exhaust is muffled by the four turbochargers. What isn’t subdued is the whine of the gears driving the four cams operating 64 valves across the two cylinder heads. The concept of the W-16 is ambitious and sophisticated, but it’s mechanical and unsubtle in operation. It’s a full immersion experience, even if it’s just puttering over from Newport to Laguna Beach.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe great Gordon Murray, designer of the McLaren F1 among other things, wrote about the Veyron for R&T back in 2006, and his observations (mostly) hold true today. “The gearbox and gear-change system are right up to date utilizing dual-wet clutches and twin layshafts,” he wrote. “In my opinion, this is the only way to go to attain quick, smooth gear changes for a vehicle without a manual clutch… The Veyron gearchange is fast and extremely well applied.”The gear changes are still quick two decades later, but “smooth” is pushing it out there. This thing has so much torque, it can’t help but be felt as every cog is engaged. It’s not quite jarring, but it’s hard enough that it can’t be ignored. And I’m not sure I’d want a 1000-hp car that didn’t let the driver know it’s a 1000-hp car.This was a 90-minute refamiliarization drive on roads full of traffic, in a privately owned Veyron, with a Bugatti chaperone riding shotgun. It’s not like I was going to push out onto the I-5 freeway and reach for 250 mph. Or 200 or 150 mph, for that matter. But while top speed is the accolade for which the Veyron is so famed, it’s the fact that it’s a 1000-hp car that can be driven by anyone without being scary or intimidating that matters most.It comes down to this: Only about 450 Veyrons were ever made, but they made the world safe for 1000-hp Ferraris, 1000-hp Teslas, and 1000-hp Chevrolet Corvettes. The Veyron almost singlehandedly validated the incredible performance cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs that can be had today and handled safely by civilians. And most are a lot less than $1.2 million.Veyrons are still seven-figure used cars. The online configurator lets Veyron buyers re-imagine their machine as they’d like it to be. Bugatti will accommodate almost any desire as long as there’s the wherewithal to back it up. That includes sending the car back to the Bugatti factory by air. "Our cars don’t go in boats," said Sarah Tupi, the region manager for Bugatti of the Americas. This is me screwing around on the configurator. I have no taste.Bugatti Configurator Image (Bugatti Configurator Image)Before Bugatti’s EB110 and Veyron, the world was stalled at less than 400-hp. Now vehicular dreams are unlimited. What’s best about the Veyron, then and now, is that it’s usable and exciting at levels well below its full potential. Gordon Murray summarized his feelings about it succinctly. “I have always felt a little responsible for starting this lunatic chase for top speed with the McLaren F1 (even though top speed was never one of our targets!),” he asserted, “and the Bugatti Veyron should put an end to this nonsense and let the designers get on with the job of designing good fun, efficient sports cars.”AdvertisementAdvertisementMurray actually underestimated the Veyron’s impact. It’s not just sports cars it’s made better, it’s virtually all vehicles that are improved. Because this incredibly powerful, incredibly expensive, incredible-looking car elevated the expectations of manufacturers and their customers to a much higher plane. And we’re living in that reality right now.Setting the standard for the 21st Century.Bugatti (Bugatti)You Might Also LikeIf You Can Only Own One Car, Make It One of TheseThese Are the Most Popular Cars by State