Hermès and Bugatti, Together Again – for $2.4 Million
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Here’s one set of wheels that is worth a trip downtown: the $2.4 million, 1001-horsepower Bugatti Veyron “Fbg par Hermès” spec edition roadster.
Volkswagen AG revived the formidable Bugatti brand name three years ago with the original edition Veyron. With a carbon fiber-composite body and a top speed of 250 miles per hour, it’s the fastest production car ever built. The Hermès edition, unveiled this morning at Battery Park Gardens and on display later today at the new Hermès boutique on Broad Street, costs more than twice the original version and recalls the early 20th- century friendship of racing legend Ettore Bugatti and saddle- and harness-maker Emile Hermès.
After World War I, Hermès created a bespoke sac pour l’auto, or “motoring bag,” for his well-heeled clients who drove what was at the time the fastest horseless carriage around: the Bugatti Type 35.
With the latest collaboration, Hermès designers use fine leather to soften an otherwise steely racecar. Instead of a brushed aluminum dashboard, this edition has one covered entirely in bull calfskin. Even the door handles are meant to resemble those on Hermès handbags, and the air vents around the rims suggest saddle stitching on the car’s exterior shell.
And though the car speaks itself, the Hermès special edition has eight-spoked polished aluminum wheels, each with a distinctive “H” in the center. The car will be available by special order through Bugatti dealers this fall.
