I predicted this to happen a long time ago, it was just a matter of time before Bugatti decided to up the boost one notch and reclaim that production car speed record for Bugatti Veyron - undoubtedly the greatest supercar of all time.
Bugatti Veyron officially became the fastest road car (top speed-wise) in 2005 with a top speed of 408 km/h. With 16 cylinders, four Turbos and magic number of 1001 metric horsepower, not many expected to see a car that could be even faster. But the bragging rights of "world's fastest car" seemed a bit too tempting for Shelby SuperCars (SSC) - a little known American automobile manufacturer that seemingly concentrated all it's efforts on one task and one task only - to build something that can beat the magnificent Veyron in pure top speed.
So they built the SSC Aero. Didn't care too much about looks or luxury but surely squeezed the last crap out of that V8 engine to make sure Veyron is beaten and they can charge hundreds and hundreds of thousands for what really isn't worth it at all.
SSC succeeded and broke Veyron's record with 412 km/h. You would imagine VW weren't too happy about that after all those zillions of dollars invested in the Veyron. Even with that ridiculous price of over 1.5 million bucks there wasn't really a good profit in the program. It was done for the prestige. "Pushing the boundaries of what's possible" - as they say.
Last few years it seemed like Bugatti just ignored the existence of SSC Aero and concentrated on celebrating the unexpected demand for Veyron with ever more ostentatious special editions. There were some rumors for more sport oriented Bugatti but when four door Galiber concept was revealed, it seemed like world speed record wasn't on the agenda at all.
Even though I expected Bugatti to reclaim the record at some point in future, I was really surprized when I saw the slightly orange Bugatti Veyron Super Sport in fastestlaps.com. And then I saw the horsepower figure. And then the top speed. And it was like a dream come true. Yes, they have done it.
434 km/h. New world record. Farewell, SSC Aero!