For the car enthusiats out there

[cjppjc]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technolo...211223675.html


Man builds his own million dollar Bugatti supercar by hand




The Bugatti Veyron is a modern automotive legend. The sleek speedster from Volkswagen boasts a top speed of over 260mph, making it the fastest road-legal car in the world, and it has a stunningly large $1.5 million price tag to match. Because of this astronomical cost of entry, only a few hundred of the vehicles have ever been built, meaning your chances of owning one are rather slim. That is, unless you're Mike Duff, an ambitious 25-year-old from Florida who decided to build his very own Bugatti with his bare hands.
Starting with a complete 2002 Mercury Cougar coupe, Duff set to work transforming the vehicle's entire exterior into that of a world-class supercar. He used fiberglass and composite material to create the Veyron's iconic lines, and laid it all over a tubular steel frame. After a professional paint job and plenty of buffing, the car was ready for the showroom, but Duff wasn't done yet. He then took to the Cougar's interior, covering everything from the seats to the dashboard in genuine leather. When we spoke with him, he said the project took him a full 9 months from start to finish.

[jk]

Re: For the car enthusiats out there

it still has a mercury cougar's engine, etc?

is bugatti only skin deep?

[Gnosis]

Re: For the car enthusiats out there

Kinda reminds one of the Pax Americana empire.: Too much buffed fiberglass; not enough under the hood to back it up.

[flintlock]

Re: For the car enthusiats out there

http://youtu.be/fbMvNfb-AXw

[plinko]

Re: For the car enthusiats out there

do not want. these cars always look similar in photos, then in person you find a bunch of things uneven or 'off'-looking with the car.

[globaleconomicollaps]

Re: For the car enthusiats out there

This not quite the opposite extreme, because the resulting car looks like a million dollars and costs a million, but at first blush you might confuse it for a $100,000 worth of car :
http://www.kirkhammotorsports.com/book_aoe/

The engine dyno’d at 643.5
horsepower at 6300 rpms. Torque is 600 foot pounds
at 3000 rpms. This gives Larry’s car a power-to-weight
ratio greater than a Bugatti Veyron.

[GRG55]

Re: For the car enthusiats out there

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technolo...211223675.html


Man builds his own million dollar Bugatti supercar by hand




The Bugatti Veyron is a modern automotive legend. The sleek speedster from Volkswagen boasts a top speed of over 260mph, making it the fastest road-legal car in the world, and it has a stunningly large $1.5 million price tag to match. Because of this astronomical cost of entry, only a few hundred of the vehicles have ever been built, meaning your chances of owning one are rather slim. That is, unless you're Mike Duff, an ambitious 25-year-old from Florida who decided to build his very own Bugatti with his bare hands.
Starting with a complete 2002 Mercury Cougar coupe, Duff set to work transforming the vehicle's entire exterior into that of a world-class supercar. He used fiberglass and composite material to create the Veyron's iconic lines, and laid it all over a tubular steel frame. After a professional paint job and plenty of buffing, the car was ready for the showroom, but Duff wasn't done yet. He then took to the Cougar's interior, covering everything from the seats to the dashboard in genuine leather. When we spoke with him, he said the project took him a full 9 months from start to finish.

I love the reference to the all leather interior. But the real question is can he get that interior moving at 260 mph?


Frankly, this car seems to be a metaphor for the USA today:

• Insecure about its place in the world, now that there's more competition for top dog status;
• Preoccupied with keeping up with the Jone's [or in this case the Bugatti's] instead of being the Jones;
• No longer believes it can create a better mouse trap [in this case something better than the Veyron];
• Far too quick to try to copy, instead of competing with, the guys who just built the better mouse trap [Veyron];
• When all else fails, create something completely fictitious and try to peddle it to the world as something with real creative value [Isn't that what the entire USA financial system did with toxic paper? Why should we be surprised that a fake Veyron could only come out of the USA...].

Earlier today I was at the local Home Depot picking up some materials for the bunker. When I came out someone had parked a beautiful [and rare!] Monza Red 1970 LT1 Corvette coupe beside my Ford diesel pick-up. They had the T-top hatches off and I spent quite a long time admiring the car which had been lovingly restored in every detail to the original exterior and interior specs. It looked like it came out of a Chevrolet advert for the era - I could not find anything visible anywhere on the car that was a modification from the factory delivered vehicle, except for the tires.

By today's automotive performance engineering and safety standards a 41-year old Corvette is an anachronism. But in it's day this car was a standard bearer for the Chevrolet Division of General Motors. The 1970 solid-lifter, small-block LT1 was in my opinion the best engine Chevrolet ever put into the C3 series Corvette. Built at a time that Americans could create the best of damn near anything they set their minds to...and despite Vietnam they still believed that in earnest.

I cannot imagine anyone writing a song like this with references to a fake Veyron - unless they were writing a song celebrating fake orgasms... ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViwpTke1e5o

[sunskyfan]

Re: For the car enthusiats out there

Will be on craigslist soon at $1.2 million. Wife says she needs room in the garage ;).

[c1ue]

Re: For the car enthusiats out there

I cannot imagine anyone writing a song like this with references to a fake Veyron - unless they were writing a song celebrating fake orgasms... ;-)

I can, however, imagine an endless series of Paris Hilton wannabes celebrating not fake...well you know.