A Car for the Ages

Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport

Reviewed by Joe Brown -Wired

...But even if its nav system shouted insults at you, it would be hard to complain about this machine. It is not perfect -- no car will ever be. But it's close. And it will likely remain as close as a car with a gasoline-burning engine will ever get. We're at the end of the petroleum era, the end of a golden age of supercars where speed can be sought regardless of consequence. It's highly unlikely that a major automaker will ever be able to justify spending the time and money to develop a fossil-fuel-powered car that can top the Veyron's combination of power, speed, handling, driveability and flat-out luxury. The Grand Sport is the worthy successor to the Ferrari F40, the Lamborghini Diablo, the McLaren F1 and every other Texas tea-drinker that ever owned the title "world's fastest." And its high-level swank takes that prize with style points nonpareil.

Maybe we'll idolize maglevs next. Maybe Tesla will have its day on a Trapper Keeper with a juice box that tops 250. But whatever we're drooling over next year, whatever makes its way onto the dorm-room walls and man-children's screen-savers, it won't run on petrol. Unless it's still a Veyron: the last king of the gas-guzzlers, forever the greatest. All hail.

WIRED Best car in the world.

TIRED No cupholder.

• Body Style: Convertible, Sports Car
• Engine Type: Gas
• Manufacturer: Bugatti
• Price: $2,100,000 (as tested)

-Wired