Car reviews 2011: Bugatti Unveils Veyron Grand Sport L’Or Blanc, a Bug in a Porcelain Shop

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If you thought, as we did, that with the last of the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 supercoupes having been commissioned, there wouldn't be much news from Bugatti until its next model is announced in a couple of years, you were wrong. Seems that Bugatti designers and marketing partners are having as much fun with the topless Grand Sport model as they had building special-edition coupes like the Veyron Fgb par Hermès. The most recent case in point: the stunning Bugatti L'Or Blanc (that’s “white gold”) for which Bugatti teamed up with German porcelain maker Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin (KPM).

Yes, porcelain. While we wouldn't have put it past Bugatti to render a Grand Sport entirely in porcelain, we might not want to be the ones to see if it could hit 253 mph, as do other Veyrons and Grand Sports. Fortunately, the L'Or Blanc's gorgeous, elaborately hand-painted blue-and-white body will not break into a million shards if a wayward shopping cart taps a fender. But porcelain is used in seven locations on the L'Or Blanc, including the wheel centers, fuel and oil filler caps, and the large "EB" badge on the back. Five places inside the cabin are rendered in porcelain as well: the center-console surround (basically the piece that wraps the transmission tunnel); signed trim plates on each side of the center console; the removable, diamond-polished dish atop the center console (part of a matching picnic set!); and a relief between the seatbacks depicting an elephant standing on its hind legs.

According to Bugatti, that elephant—which recalls a sculpture by Ettore Bugatti's younger brother, Rembrandt, that was used as the original radiator mascot of the Bugatti Royale—was the inspiration for the partnership between Bugatti and KPM. Bugatti claims that it has wanted to use that symbol all along as it has built Veyrons and Grand Sports, and the KPM partnership presented the perfect opportunity. It is a partnership that Bugatti intends to continue, the company says, so expect to see more porcelain, and more elephants, on future Bugattis.

Should you decide that you want a new porcelain butter dish with a 250-plus-mph Bugatti wrapped around it, this one-of-a-kind Grand Sport is still available for purchase for a mere €1.65 million, or about $2.4 million.

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