Patrick Jackson
Way back in 2000, before Apple had unveiled the first iPod, Bugatti announced that it was building the ultimate road car. Bugatti promised it would produce over 1000 metric horsepower (736kW), have a top speed in excess of 400km/h (249mph), and accelerate from 0-100km/h (0-62mph) in under three seconds. The brand also assured that immediately after achieving such performance figures, you would be able to drive its new car to the opera house on the same set of tyres. People simply didn't believe it was possible.
And yet, five years later, that's exactly what they did.
The quad-turbocharged 8.0-litre W16 Veyron 16.4 was a watershed moment. Jeremy Clarkson of TopGear lore, hailed it as "the greatest car ever made and the greatest car we will ever see in our lifetime." He was only half right.
At the time, the Veyron was a frankly unfathomable engineering exercise. It was undoubtedly the most astonishing car the world had ever seen. It was also the most expensive, costing approximately AUD$1.8 million. The Veyron was automotive unobtanium.
However, no one – not least Clarkson – could have anticipated the trickle-down effect it would have on the rest of the performance car industry.
Case in point: Chevrolet has now unveiled the Corvette ZR1 which boasts more power than Bugatti's original hypercar at a mere fraction of the cost. 20 years may split them, but here's how the pair compare:
Patrick Jackson
