Bugatti Galibier Sedan gets the green light for production

Are you in the market for a practical four-door family car?  Need to get the kids to school in a hurry?  Do you have extra million euros laying around taking up space?  If these are your problems, Bugatti has the solution. It’s called the Galibier, named after a mountain pass in southern France, which is often the highest point in the Tour du France. Rumors of a four-door Bugatti super sedan (saloon) have been swirling around for a few years but Volkswagen, Bugatti’s parent company, have finally given the project a green light for production. 

Beyond that the car will be produced, little is known.  Power will come from a derivative of the 1200 horsepower 8.0-liter quad-turbocharged W16 Veyron engine.  Whether it will continue to make Veyron level power is the subject of much speculation but it is unlikely.

General consensus is that the Galibier will either be a powered by a detuned, if you can call 1000 hp detuned, Veyron engine or Bugatti may remove two of the four turbochargers and power will drop to around 800 hp. Removing two of the turbochargers and their associated pluming would somewhat simplify (relative terms here) packaging and production while increasing low end torque.  Additionally, Volkswagen would like the Galibier to run on biofuel as well as petrol. 

It’s likely the production Galibier will closely resemble the 2009 C16 show car. It’s also likely at this price point that many of the show car’s interior details: polished burled walnut, hand stitched leather with matching fitted luggage and a bespoke timepiece could remain.  It’s also likely that the Galibier will retain and expand many of the C16’s luxury & technology features as well.  No word on whether dual-panel bonnet or Atlantic roofline detail will see production. Though the style is undoubtedly Bugatti, it does, in profile, share more than a passing resemblance to a stretched Bentley Continental.  

It should be noted that the 2009 C16 concept car had an estimated top speed of 218 mph. 

The final price and release date have not been announced.  Production is reported to be limited to just 300 examples. Customers can expect delivery to begin as early as the end of 2013.