Apparently, somebody at Bugatti still appreciates Throwback Thursdays. After all, what better day to announce something called the “F.K.P. Hommage” than one dedicated to honoring the past? The “F.K.P.” stands for Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Karl Piëch—the man responsible for getting the whole program off the ground, and this one-off tribute will join the ranks of Bugatti’s bespoke “Programme Solitaire” offerings.
This is no continuation car, nor is it a restored original. This is a handbuilt re-imagination of the original formula that utilizes the latest iteration of what the company refers to as its W16 platform (named, of course, for the engine they all have in common). So not only is this brand-new, hand-built Veyron, but underneath, it benefits from many of the advances the company’s engineers have made since the original debuted way back in 2005, including its now-1,600-horsepower engine.
Even a quick glance will reveal the the updates to the F.K.P. Hommage, especially up front. The new car is wider and looks even lower than the original, and the effect is enhanced by the new headlights and larger grille. The Veyron’s infamously expensive tires have also been updated with the latest from Michelin, Bugatti says.
It’s hard to articulate the Veyron’s impact to anybody who wasn’t dialed in to enthusiast culture when it debuted. It’s not like the car really won anything, innumerable magazine races aside. It wasn’t a race car, and really wasn’t even much of a track car. It was built to a singular purpose—to be a daily-drivable car capable of 250 mph in the hands of anybody who had enough road (and guts) to try.
The Veyron was Volkswagen Group at its most extravagant and ambitious, and that’s saying something for its time. The era of the Veyron was also the era of the AWD Lamborghini, the Audi R8, the reborn Bentley Continental and the VW Phaeton (which shared a platform and assembly line with the Bentley). Before the dark times. Before Dieselgate.
It may be less a car than a piece of artwork, but this “new” Veyron is nonetheless breathtaking, and simultaneously a reminder of how gracefully that design has aged.
Got a news tip? Let us know at tips@thedrive.com!