I had a conversation in the Bridge Classic Cars office earlier with Nick about how often the term “Game-Changer” is used and how it is not always completely true of its subject. However, we both agreed that one example of something that can only ever be described as a true “Game Changer” is the Bugatti Veyron.
The Bugatti Veyron didn’t just break records; it quite literally set a whole new level of benchmarks for what a modern hypercar could be. With 1,001 horsepower, a 16-cylinder engine, and a top speed of more than 250 mph, the Veyron went so far beyond what anyone thought was possible at the time.
One thing that is not always thought about, though, is that beneath the headlines and spec sheets was a team of people who were working out how to make all of this possible in the first place. A key member of that very special team was high-speed testing expert Loris Bicocchi.
The Bugatti Veyron Project
Bicocchi had already worked with Bugatti in the early ’90s on the EB110 GT and EB110 SS, so when he got a call in 2001 to help test a new project, he quickly agreed. At that point in time, the exact details of the project were still unofficial. However, he had heard the rumours about a car with a four-figure horsepower figure, sixteen cylinders, and speeds that seemed almost impossible for a road-legal car.
“All car enthusiasts had heard rumors about the Veyron. 1,001 horsepower, more than 400 kilometers per hour, sixteen cylinders, sixteen. Can you imagine? Even today, when I say that, I still get goosebumps.”
Loris Bicocchi, Expert in High-Speed Testing for the Bugatti Veyron
His first time in the car was at Michelin’s test facility in Ladoux, France, where a red and black prototype was waiting for him. Even for someone with experience in extreme performance cars, the Veyron was in a whole new world. It had twice the power of anything else being produced, and no real benchmark to aim for.
“I didn’t know what to expect, I didn’t dare to go full throttle. It was so impressive, crazy, almost inexplicable. You immediately understood what this car stood for.”
Loris Bicocchi, Expert in High-Speed Testing for the Bugatti Veyron
From a technical point of view, developing the Veyron meant starting from scratch. At speeds over 190mph or 200mph, the aerodynamics, braking, and stability dynamics all change dramatically. Even Bicocchi had to forget any reference points he had previously used. The Veyron was, in his own words, “incomparable to anything I had driven before.”
One of the goals of the project was not just to build the fastest car in the world; it was to make that level of performance usable. The Veyron had to be stable, safe, and intuitive enough that any driver, not just professionals, could handle it confidently.
Bugatti Veyron
More than 20 years after the creation of this incredible car, the Bugatti Veyron is still an icon and, in my opinion, one of the most important cars in history.
The Veyron didn’t take things to the edge of possibility; it took a huge jump off the edge and set new limits for what can be achieved on 4 wheels.
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