Bugatti is officially back as the king of speed. Driving a specially-prepared Chiron, race ace Andy Wallace burst through the 300mph barrier, achieving a top speed of 304.77mph at Volkswagen’s Ehra-Lessien test-track.
It beats the official 277mph record that Koenigsegg scored two years ago with the Agera RS.
The 300mph Bugatti
As you can tell by looking at the pictures, this is no ordinary Chiron (if any Chiron could be called ‘ordinary’). It features extensive modifications, both visible and under the skin, to make it a 300mph car.
At such speeds, the air is your enemy. To help defeat it, the Chiron has modified bodywork, including a 250mm longer tail with a reduced cross-section for increased stability.
Stacked quad exhausts protrude from the rear, to keep the hot gasses from interrupting airflow. These were also seen recently on the Bugatti Centodieci ‘EB110 tribute’, revealed at Pebble Beach.
Speaking of interrupting airflow, this is the first Bugatti of the modern era without any sort of spoiler, active or fixed. The Chiron’s hydraulic item has been ditched to save weight. At the front, the horseshoe grille is engorged, along with the flanking vents, to suck in as much air as possible and cool the Chiron’s many radiators.
The front wheelarches evacuate air through new vents in the bodywork. The ones on the top, in particular, are very reminiscent of the EB110 SS.
Those radiators have more work to do than ever. The 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 engine in this prototype produces 1,600hp. That power goes to all four wheels via the regular Chiron transmission. On the inside, the passenger seat has been removed, although we don’t expect any production version to be a single-seater.
When the Chiron was first revealed, Bugatti seemed nonplussed about speed records. The car could top 260mph, but was electronically limited. It dismissed questions about an attempt, saying tyres were the limiting factor.
Clearly that’s no longer the case. Michelin has been working closely with the marque on the triple-tonne project over the past six months.
As for what this new Chiron actually is, it’s not clear. At the moment, it’s a one-off. Bugatti refers to it as ‘a near-production derivative of the hyper sportscar Chiron’, so we can probably expect a limited run soon, akin to the Veyron Super Sport of 2010.
You can bet Bugatti’s sales team are already fielding phone calls from people whose bank balances have more digits than their phone numbers…
Many cars come to auction with celebrity ownership stories. But very few will have ownership provenance like this humble Land Rover. 
Built in February 1966, the 88-inch short-wheelbase station wagon was delivered to Nepal the same month. 
For a decade the Series IIA was put to use in the hills of India, whilst the Dalai Lama remained exiled from Tibet. Tenzin Cheogyal was in charge of maintaining the Land Rover and its four-cylinder engine. 
Upon arrival in California, it became clear that the Land Rover was in need of restoration work to capture its original glory. 
Due to the incredible ownership lineage of this particular Series IIA, it has been the cover star of Land Rover Lifestyle magazine. Original documents, including the insurance policy listing His Holiness as the owner are included as part of the sale. 
Porsche has announced the expansion of its vehicle subscription and rental schemes to four new cities across North America.
Porsche Passport is the company’s monthly subscription service. Users can reserve a range of Porsche cars via a 
By contrast, Porsche Drive is aimed at short-term rental users who may need a Porsche for a few hours or days. 
Expanding these two programmes in North America adds to the growing number of options for people to drive a Porsche. In California, Porsche worked with car-sharing outfit Turo to offer the Porsche Host service. 
Undertaken by Volvo USA and The Harris Poll, some 2,000 drivers responded to the online survey. A further 15 were then chosen to be observed by researchers, lifting the lid on the impact pets have on driving. 
The research found that allowing pets to travel unrestrained had an impact on the stress levels of animals as well as humans.
If causing their pets additional stress is not enough to cause drivers to invest in pet safety, Dr. Elisa Mazzaferro, Staff Criticalist, Cornell University Veterinary Specialists, has a warning for pet owners. 
Performance BMWs will always be desirable, 
First launched to the world in 1972, the 3.0 CSL was made to let BMW go racing in the European Touring Car Championship. 
Along with the bodywork, BMW also worked to remove weight from the normal CS coupe. Thinner steel was used for the chassis, whilst the doors, hood, and trunk lid were all made from lightweight aluminum. 
Beneath the hood of this particular CSL is now a rebuilt 3.2-liter inline-six engine. Built by Terry Tinney Performance Motors of Livermore, California, only a few hundred miles are said to have been covered since installation.
Inside the CSL is a reminder of the homologation origins of this competition crusader. Fixed-back Scheel bucket seats are trimmed in black fabric, with Coco checkered mats cover the lightweight factory carpets.
With just over 1,200 examples of the CSL built between 1972 and 1975, this is already a rare machine. That only 57 ‘Series 2’ models – offered in different paint schemes – left the factory makes in even scarcer to own. 
