Bugatti is doing a series of six Legends Edition Veyrons, and the latest pays homage to the original Bugatti Type 18, known as “Black Bess,” that was delivered to a French aviator more than a century ago.
Unveiled at the recent Beijing auto show next to its namesake, the “Black Bess” Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse Legend model is one of three to be built and offered for sale for a mere $3 million. The car is the fifth in the Legends series to be offered so far by Bugatti.
Bugatti claims the original Black Bess was “the first-ever street-legal super sports car.”
“Over the course of its history, Bugatti has not only been responsible for crafting enormously successful race cars, but has also created some outstanding road vehicles,” Wolfgang Schreiber, president of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S., said in a news release. “As the fastest road vehicle of its time, the Type 18 was in a class of its own. It truly is the legitimate forerunner for the Veyron, and is therefore a Bugatti Legend.”
Powered by a 5.0-liter, 4-cylinder, overhead-cam inline engine that pumped out more than 100 horsepower, even with its chain-drive system, the original “Black Bess” could reach a top speed of 100 miles per hour.
Ettore Bugatti drove the Type 18 prototype to victory in the 1912 Mont Ventoux hill climb and then produced seven copies for customers, including aviator Roland Garros, who took delivery of his car on September 18, 1913. Garros would name his car “Black Bess” after a legendary British horse.
Garros’ car is one of three from the series extant and was loaned to Bugatti for its Beijing display by the Louwman Museum in the Netherlands.
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