It’s hard to believe we’re more than two decades down the road from Bugatti introducing the Veyron to the world in production form, and over 25 years on from when it broke cover at various global motor shows.
The brainchild of Ferdinand Karl Piëch (or F.K.P.), the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and long-time head of the Volkswagen Group, the Bugatti Veyron was a revolution, with its quad-turbo W16 engine, propelling it to become the fastest car in the world at the time.
While that record has subsequently been smashed, the Veyron set a standard for Bugatti which was repeated with the Chiron and will soon be carried forth with the V16 hybrid-powered Tourbillon.
To honour the man who sparked Bugatti’s renaissance, the brand has launched the ‘F.K.P. Hommage’, a modern interpretation of the Veyron, based on the outgoing Chiron.
Powered by the Chiron Super Sport’s 1600hp (1193kW) W16 engine, it’s even more savage than the Veyron (1000hp/746kW), though it doesn’t look any wilder than the car it pays tribute to.
Its exterior design is as close to the Veyron as can be, with the two-tone red and tinted carbon-fibre scheme a faithful recreation of one of the 2000s hypercar’s most common combinations.
This is aided by other elements from the Veyron, such as its three large front air intakes, two intakes on either side of the engine, and striking quad tail lights at the back, now sitting above a wider diffuser and larger exhaust outlet.
Sharing the same wheel design, the front rims now measure 20 inches in diameter, while the rears are now 21 inches, all wrapped in Michelin’s Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres.
Inside it’s much the same story, where any hint of the Chiron’s underpinnings have been taken away, with the cabin looking like the Veyron has been brought up to date but with a distinctly 2000s feel.
Only the digital instrument cluster gives a hint that this is not a true Veyron, though Bugatti seems to have gone mad with the interior upholstery, sticking its logo on almost every surface.
It’s not yet known whether Bugatti will sell the F.K.P. Hommage or if it’ll hold onto it as a present to itself, being its second vehicle completed by the bespoke Programme Solitaire division.
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