Bugatti has announced plans to introduce the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse Legend Jean-Pierre Wimille at the Monterey Auto Week in California next month.
Limited to three units, the special edition is dedicated to a personality who is central to the history of motor sports and intimately linked with Bugatti: Jean-Pierre Wimille, who garnered two victories for Bugatti at 24 Hours of Le Mans. As a reference to the 57G from 1937 Le Mans, this Vitesse shines in blue clear-coated carbon fiber and a light Wimille Bleu paintwork finish.
The color scheme is continued in the interior, as Achim Anscheidt, chief designer at Bugatti, explained: "The materials and colors selected, as well as a host of details, all reference the essential characteristics of the classic models driven by those figures to whom our edition pays homage. In each case, this care has resulted in vehicles in which the authenticity of the past is combined with the modern design, the sportive superlative and the luxurious comfort of Bugatti as an icon of the present."
The Grand Sport Vitesse Legend Jean-Pierre Wimille will be showcased at The Quail: A Motorsports Gathering (August 16) and The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance (August 18). In the next 12 months, Bugatti will also launch the other 5 Legends based on the Grand Sport Vitesse.
About Jean-Pierre Wimille
Jean-Pierre Wimille was one of the longest-serving test drivers at Bugatti. The son of a journalist, he was born in Paris on 26 February 1908 and drove almost exclusively for Bugatti throughout his racing career. With a number of victories already under his belt, in 1933 Ettore Bugatti invited him to take up the position of official test driver for the brand. He joined Bugatti at a point when its last great racing triumphs lay a few years in the past, making the string of victories he brought home to Molsheim over the following years even more significant. In his very first year he came first in the Algerian Grand Prix, then in 1935 he collected the title in the then-famous hill climb at La Turbie near Nice driving a T 59, following this with a second place in the Tunisian Grand Prix and fourth place in Spain.
And it was Jean-Pierre Wimille who brought Bugatti what was to be its last ever racing number one, in 1947 at the Bois de Boulogne, behind the wheel of a 4.7 litre Monoposto Type 59/50 B. Wimille was a world-class driver, who played a key role at Bugatti, especially as the brand’s racing era came to an end. His greatest racing achievement was without doubt his twin victories for Bugatti at Le Mans. He died in a car crash in 1949 in Buenos Aires.
