One to Buy: 1 of 3 Jean-Pierre Wimille Legend edition 2014 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse
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A little under two years after Bugatti had launched the ultimate Fixed Head iteration of its Veyron (the Super Sport), a similarly enhanced open top version emerged at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. Dubbed the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, it instantly became the fastest, most powerful Roadster ever placed on general sale.
Produced between 2012 and 2015, Bugatti completed 92 copies of the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a figure that comprised six batches of limited run Legend special editions, three of which were built each time to honour some of the renowned individuals and vehicles that had shaped the marque’s history.
First of the Legend series to appear was the Jean-Pierre Wimille edition which Bugatti presented at the Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance in August 2013. Wimille had been a factory Bugatti racing driver who, in addition to a litany of Grand Prix victories, famously won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1937 (driving a Bugatti 57G with Robert Benoist) and again in 1939 (this time with Pierre Veyron at the wheel of a 57C).
The Grand Sport Vitesse Jean-Pierre Wimille was an homage to the ‘37 and ‘39 Le Mans winners. Externally it featured a two-tone colour scheme with a mix of blue visible carbonfibre and light blue paintwork (the latter dubbed Wimille Bleu). Painted silver underneath the rear spoiler was an outline of the historic Le Mans racing course from the late 1930s.
The two-tone blue theme continued inside where special features included red, white and blue stitching for the steering wheel and gear lever, blue visible carbon door panels, a blue visible carbon centre box cover inlaid with a milled and polished outline of the Le Mans circuit and headrests embroidered with Jean-Pierre Wimille’s signature.
Like all cars in the series, fuel and oil filler caps were engraved with each Legend’s laser-etched signature, door sill strips were adorned with the Legend’s likeness and signature, and the centre console sidewall trim panels sported the Les Legendes de Bugatti script along with Bugatti’s famous dancing elephant mascot.
On September 26th, one of those three Jean-Pierre Wimille edition Veyron Grand Sports will be going under the hammer during RM Sotheby’s sale in Zurich. Originally delivered to a customer in Dubai on May 21st 2014, chassis 795063 subsequently spent time in Germany and Switzerland.
At the time of cataloguing, chassis 795063 had covered a little under 3800km. It is accompanied by the original book pack which records prior services having been carried out by Bugatti Dubai in May 2016 (at 655km) and October 2017 (at 2553km).
