Bugatti brought their Veyron to the 2008 Beijing Auto Show, and sold one within two hours.

The buyer put forth $3.6 million—which is more than twice the asking price to be the first on the block to own one; actually, to be the first in the country; to own one. Must be nice...

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As of January 1, 2008 VW is changing their name here to "Volkswagen Group of America." The reason for the name change is to give more attention to the Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini nameplates, which are under VW’s brand umbrella, as well as Volkswagen and Audi.

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Here's Inside Line's take: Name Game: Volkswagen of America Gets Rechristened

Hot on the heels of the news of a possible Bugatti Veyron-powered Arnage, now there's news that Bentley may offer an Arnage hybrid by 2010.

This will be an all-new car using an aluminum spaceframe chassis made by Audi, with aluminum body panels. Bentley's Franz-Josef Paefgen stated that the all-new Arnage to be the biggest challenge for Bentley since the 1930s. “This will be a totally independent car. It will not be like the Continental, a derivative of a VW Group product, although it will use components from the group.”

Sound like Bentley wants to have their cake and eat it too...

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The 500 horsepower Bentley Arnage, already a leading candidate for the wretched excess four-wheeler award, is planning to stuff the 987 horsepower W16 powerplant from the Bugatti Veyron into this oh-so-ancient, yet oh-so-capable Arnage chassis.

Well, at least a prototype has been confirmed; no word yet as to whether there will be a production version, but I wouldn't count it out.

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Shelby Supercars can now claim as to owning the "world speed record for a production car." Their new Twin-turbo 1183 hp Ultimate Aero set a two-way average of 255.83 mph, breaking the unofficial record held by the Bugatti Veyron by 3.11 mph. The highest speed in one direction was 257.11 mph, and the return trip it posted a 254.55 mph, and when averaged together, ended up with an "official" 255.83 mph for the record as per Guinness World Records rules. Even more amazing is this was held on a closed stretch of highway in the state of Washington.

Full story here and here.

No, this is not 50 Cent's car. This, sir, is the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Pur Sang. And, hoo boy, is it ever shiny. Unveiled at the Volkswagen Group's nonstop extravaganza the night before the Frankfurt show began, the Pur Sang nearly blinded several bystanders. If you don't know Pur Sang means Pure Blood, which is a pretty wicked.

It is mechanically identical to every other Veyron, but its body is just polished aluminum and carbon fiber. According to Bugatti, the Pur Sang was created in response to some unnamed customer's desire to have "the most pure car."  There will a grand total of five Pur Sang Veyrons and each will cost 1.4 million euros. Four are still available. Paint will cost you extra. -- Daniel Pund, Inside Line Senior Editor, Detroit

As we all know there have been a slew of wrecked Ferrari Enzos recently. Now we have a Bugatti Veyron that bit the dust. Any guesses as to what it might cost to repair?

Full story here.

More wrecked exotics here.

The new US airbag regulations that go into effect next month could force Bugatti out of business. The company is in the process of filing for an exemption.

Snippet: Bugatti told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a letter last month that it would face "substantial economic hardship" from the new rules, which would require it to redesign its only model, the 1,001 horsepower €1m ($1.28m) Veyron. The cost would push up the price of the car 10 per cent and have a "catastrophic" effect on sales, it said.

More info here.

The 987bhp 16-cylinder engine Bugatti Veyron posted an astonishing 9.9 second time going from 0 to 100 mph to 0 again, so states Autocar magazine. In doing so it beat a Suzuki GSX-R1000 motorcycle, an Aston Martin Vantage, and an Ariel Atom. There were 25 cars in this shootout.

Snippet: Not only is the Bugatti faster than the Suzuki, it creates more g-force at maximum acceleration than you’d experience in an F-16 jet fighter at take off or when skydiving.