As the climax of its centenary celebration ceremonies, Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. presented customers and opinion-makers with the Bugatti Galibier Concept, intended to be the most exclusive, elegant, and powerful four door automobile in the world last weekend in Molsheim.

Technique: those are the brand values to which Ettore Bugatti and his son Jean oriented themselves in order to develop even more powerful engines and even more noble body designs for each new model, which were without equal in quality, handling, speed and elegance.

The Bugatti Galibier’s design masters the challenge of uniting sportiness with the comfort and elegance of a modern four-door saloon. The basic architecture picks up on the torpedo-like character of the Type 35, which was already revived in the Bugatti Veyron, and reinterprets it.

Dymee.com delivers news, pictures and information regarding latest cars, such as Aston martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Bugatti, Cadillac, Lamborghini, VW and Porsche, etc.

For the Bugatti Atlantic Coupe, Jean Bugatti’s goal was to design the ultimate high-speed grand touring car.

According to Paul Bracq, “the Atlantic is a monument in the history of French coachbuilding. More than any other car, it expresses a Latin look. An incredible sense of lightness is given off by this sculpture.”

Powered by a straight 8 cylinder engine fitted with twin overhead camshafts and a compressor, this beauty is also incredibly fast, capable of reaching 200 kph.

2. Bentley “Blower” (1929)

Forget Aston Martin. The Bentley Blower was the car Ian Fleming chose for 007 to drive in his earliest novel – it was James Bond’s first car.

This 1929 4½ Liter Birkin “Blower” Bentley was one of three Birkin Bentleys entered in the 1930, 24 Hour Le Mans Race where it was driven by Benjafield & Ramponi.

3. Mercedes-Benz SSK “Count Trossi” (1930)

Chassis number SSK 36038 was originally bodied by Touring as a Spyder, without doors and with cycle fenders. The Mercedes-Benz SSK “Count Trossi” was entered by Antonio Maino for the 1931 Mille Miglia.

Other 26 exquisite cars after the jump:

4. Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza (1931)

The Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 existed both as a Grand Tourer and as a racing car, its bodywork designed by some of the greatest Italian master-coachmakers, including Zagato, Touring and even Castagna.

The racing version of the 8C 2300 seen here is referred to as “Monza“, the worthy successor of the mythical P2.

5. Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Mille Miglia (1938)

The Turin factory called upon Carrozzeria Touring to design a small series of four two-seater roadsters intended to take part in the 1938 Mille Miglia, the first example of which is the car exhibited here.

This Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Mille Miglia fitted out with a straight 8 cylinder 2.9 liter engine with twin overhead camshafts supercharged by two compressors is equipped with fully independent suspension and a four speed rear transaxle.

6. Bugatti 59 Grand Prix (1933)

Evolved from Types 51 and 54 constructed in the Molsheim workshops, and successor to the mythical Type 35 line and its countless racing victories, the Bugatti 59 is the stylistic and aesthetic reference for pre-War Grand Prix cars, despite its less brilliant track record in actual competitions.

7. Ferrari 375 Plus (1954)

The Ferrari known as the 375 Plus was an extrapolation of the Type 375 MM. The absolute masterpiece Ferrari 375 Plus was created by highly qualified, talented artisans under the guidance of Pinin Farina, Ferrari’s official coachbuilder. Only five examples of the Type 375 Plus were made, including a Spyder version which won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1954.

1954 Ferrari 375 Plus engine

8. Jaguar XKD (1955)

In order to find a worthy successor to the brilliant Jaguar Type XKC, winner on two occasions of the Le Mans 24 Hours, the aeronautic aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer came up with a non-conformist vehicle. The D-Type has a long hood with no radiator grille, opening away from the block and a slender, extremely graceful rear, easily recognizable thanks to the highly original fin that extends the driver’s head-rest, providing greater stablility at high speeds.

1955 Jaguar XKD engine

9. Porsche 550 Spyder (1955)

Inspired by the Type 356, itself extrapolated from the famous Volkswagen, the 550, showcased at the Paris Motor Show in 1953 was one of Porsche’s first race cars and continued to be produced until 1956. Spyder, adopted by Ferry Porsche, was a good description of the Porsche 550 Spyder open two-seater light sports car.

10. Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (1958)

The Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (red head) owes its name to the red camshaft covers of its V123 liter engine. Made by Carrozzeria Scaglietti, adapted from a design by Pinin Farina introducing a torpedo shaped body, the car had a headrest that stuck out above the bodywork and integrated headlights behind protruding Plexiglas protection.

The Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa in the Ralph Lauren collection bears chassis number 0734 and is the 14th of the 34 250 Testa Rossas built.

11. Ferrari 250 GTO (1962)

Designed in the utmost secrecy, the Ferrari 250 GTO is considered by aficionados today to be the quintessential vintage Ferrari model, both technically and aesthetically, embodying one of the most famous and most expensive sports cars of all time.

The 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO was the last front engine race car Ferrari ever made and, it was also the last race car Ferrari built that you could actually drive on the road but it was truly designed for racing and won the World Championship three years in a row, 1962, 1963 and 1964.

12. Ferrari 250 LM (1964)

The Ferrari 250 LM (standing for “Berlinetta Le Mans”) was descended from the 250 P, intended to replace the GTO. Designed for racing, its engine is situated in a central position, giving it an unusual line with the cockpit further forward than normal, a short front and spacious rear.

Equipped with the 250 series’ famous V12 engine, fed by six carburetors, developing 320 CV and serviced by a five-speed gearbox, it propelled the Berlinetta LM to 295 kph.

13. Jaguar XK120 Roadster (1950)

The Jaguar XK120 Roadster was a landmark in the company’s history. It was launched at the London Motor Show in 1948.

From an aesthetic point of view, the XK models illustrated the preference of Jaguar’s anti-conformist boss, William Lyons, for creating automobile fashion rather than folllowing it, even if he chose to invest primarily in the models’ performance and mechanics: a straight 6 cylinder 3.5 liter engine with twin overhead camshafts, producing 180 CV.

14. Mercedes-Benz 300 SL “Gullwing” (1955)

At the start of the 1950s, Mercedes sought to get back into top-level racing. Rudolf Uhlenlaut started working on the 300 SL project in 1951, futher motivated by a change in the Grand Prix rules set ofr the 1954 season, which would also affect other racing car manufacturers. The straight 6 cylinder 3.0 liter engine, taken from the regular four-seater 300, was incorporated into the middle of an ultra-light multi-tubular chassis, which had an unusually high sill that prevented the uss of standard doors and opening windows.

from Ralph Lauren Car Show

Bugatti shows three new special editions of their Bugatti Veyron and Veyron Grand Sport at the Dubai Motor Show today which are exclusively build for the Middle East market. The three special editions consist of one Grand Sport and two regular Veyron models. Like previous special editions, the three editions shown in Dubai feature special exterior and interior colours and use of special materials like magnesium and platinum.

The Bugatti Veyron Nocturne is the first of these special editions and is limit to just five pieces.

Bugatti Veyron Nocturne – Price €1.65 M

Dymee.com delivers news, pictures and information regarding latest cars, such as Aston martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Bugatti, Cadillac, Lamborghini, VW and Porsche, etc.

Watch out MX-5 and Elise – the Bugatti Veyron is well on its way to becoming the most special editioned car yet. After the Pur Sang, Sang Bleu, Centenaire et al comes this rather shiny and expensive trio.

First up is the Nocturne (main pic). It’s based on the Bugatti Veyron coupe, with a combination of polished aluminium and a black finish on the outside, and an extravagant interior that boasts a nanocoated magnesium dashboard and galvanised platinum centre console. Obviously.

Five Veyron Nocturnes will be made, and they’re all bound for the Middle East, although its 1.65million euro (£1.5m) pricetag is probably more of a stumbling block than the geography of its sales plan.

It’s on display at the Dubai motor show alongside two even more limited edition Veyrons. There’s the Sang d’Argent coupe – silver paint and aluminium outside, quilted and personalised seats inside – and the Soleil de Nuit Grand Sport cabrio, which mixes blue/black paint with mirrored finishes on the exterior and has a contrasting burnt orange interior.

Both are one-offs (although that’s perhaps for the best), priced at around 1.5million euros each (£1.35m). As usual, the changes are cosmetic meaning the Veyron’s ‘regular’ 16-cylinder 8-litre engine remains untouched. With 1000bhp on tap and a 253mph top speed, that’s probably no bad thing…

Dymee.com delivers news, pictures and information regarding latest cars, such as Aston martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Bugatti, Cadillac, Lamborghini, VW and Porsche, etc.

Dymee.com delivers news, pictures and information regarding latest cars, such as Aston martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Bugatti, Cadillac, Lamborghini, VW and Porsche, etc.

Officially the Galabier has been designed to gauge customer reaction to a four door, four seat Bugatti, but insiders are keen to make it once Veyron production ends in 2012.

“This is what the Bugatti team wants to do now we have to convince customers and the [VW] group to make it,” company boss Franz-Josef Pfeigen told Autocar.

The company is staying tight-lipped about technical details. But technical boss Wolfgang Schreiber admitted that he wanted the production Galabier to “be the world’s fastest, highest accelerating and powerful four-door” and hinted that maximum power would end up at around 800bhp.

The Galabier is four-wheel drive and power comes from the same W16 engine as the Veyron, albeit with twin mechanical superchargers, rather than the four-turbochargers of the mid-engined Sportscar.

And unlike the sportscar the Galabier is thought to have a conventional 8-speed torque convertor automatic transmission, rather than a DSG system.

The doors and wings of the Galabier are made from aluminium, but the rest of the body is constructed from carbon-fibre and Schreiber admitted that the front end of the chassis was also largely made from carbon-fibre to add stiffness and weight.

Insiders won’t comment on the target weight of the production car, merely that it is set to be the lightest car in its class.

The styling is said to be influenced by the famous Bugatti Type 57 Atlantique which is why the Galabier is a hatchback, rather than a conventional saloon and has a characteristic spine running down the entire body.

The basic architecture is also said to be inspired by the so called ‘fuselage’ styling of the Type 35 and echoed by the Veyron. The four-seat cabin is more luxury oriented than the Veyron and extremely minimalist.

The large wooden dash is dominated by two centrally mounted dials, showing available power and speed, topping out at 390km/h (242mph) on the concept. The clock has been manufactured by Swiss maker Parmigiani and is removes to be fixede on a specially designed wristwatch for customers.

Bugatti’s sales director Alastair Stewart told Autocar that the decision to put the Galabier into production would be taken by Spring next year after the concept car has toured the world to be put in front of prospective customers. If it does see the light of day, he expects up to 300 to be made at the company’s Molsheim HQ every year.