"The guy behind the Starbuck's counter on La Cienega noticed my Motor Trend cap: "Hey, you work there? Probably drivin' a cool car tonight, right?" "A Kia minivan. But it's pretty nice. DVD player in back for the kids." He nodded silently and proceeded to make my green tea frappuccino. Worried that this guy's image of the suave, bring-me-another-Ferrari automotive journalist was imploding like Ashley Simpson on "SNL," I absurdly added, "But, um, we'll be testing a Bugatti Veyron in about a week. Ever heard of a Bugatti?"The blender stopped. "Of course I've heard of it. Sixteen-cylinder W-type engine. Four turbos. A thousand horsepower. A million bucks. It'll do, what-- 250 mph?" Now I was nodding silently. He offered a straw.
Exactly when did random baristas start memorizing facts about Bugatti automobiles? The original company's heyday was the late twenties and early thirties--the curtain falling with le Patron's fatal heart attack in 1947. During the ensuing 60 years, the 1750-odd pur sang machines remaining from the 7950 Molsheim produced have become the obscure relics of autodom's closest thing to an extremist cult. The Veyron, on the other hand, is a media queen. Paris Hilton with all-wheel drive. Everybody knows something about it. Larry King will do an interview. And what's behind its universal awareness (besides a VW propaganda machine screaming at redline)? Numbers. Great big memorable numbers.
My barista friend already said them. When former VW chief Ferdinand Piech announced the future Veyron's staggering four-digit horsepower and a terminal velocity a third the speed of sound, he destined his Bugatti to be on the lips of the masses. It was P.R. genius. Had he said it would have 751 horsepower and top-out at 187 mph, my frappuccino pal would've said he'd never heard of this Bugatti-whatever, but ahh...have you ever driven a Z06?"
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