How many standard Chirons has Bugatti built? It’s one of those questions I really only ask myself when I’m soaking in the tub for a long time, my phone’s battery is long gone and my brain is about to shut itself down. Still, it’s an interesting question in itself. The whole process of ‘making unique’ incredibly expensive production cars offers a fascinating window into a world where the words ‘custom’ and ‘narcissism’ are no longer indistinguishable.
Earlier this century it was exactly the same with the Veyron. You had the Grand Sport and the Vitesse (wasn’t that a Rover?) And the one long one in orange and black. And the other one with porcelain bits and frills. But how many Veyrons were actually ‘normal’, standard? Not very much, if you go by the copies that are occasionally for sale.
Just choose the standard model
I’m pretty sure the rarest Veyron is the base model, because the company caved in on the billionaires and gave them special editions so they could feel even more special. If, like me, you’re a kid of the 70s and 80s, you’re going to find this whole special-model thing completely confusing, because a special-edition car – which was mostly a cosmetic thing here and there and another a lick of paint – meant only one thing in those days.
That car would soon go out of production, and the manufacturer was desperate to get the last units sold before the model was euthanized to make way for a hip new device.
Ford was very good at it
Ford was a true master at it. Entry-level Escorts were spruced up with some chunky wheels and an electric antenna for the cassette player, and a flashy ad campaign was launched to lure people in. But they all tried – even BMW packed the last 6-series with trinkets and called them Highlines.
At least there was some honesty in that. It was an understandable and logical process for everyone involved, manufacturer and consumer. When a car was new, it sold on merit alone, and when it got older and less competitive against its rivals, it needed some extra lipstick and a shorter skirt. But I don’t understand the way the process works now.
AMG also does it
Take Mercedes. In the 1980s, that brand would never have lowered itself to the special edition game, but now it even launches AMGs with a ‘limited edition’ version. I find it baffling.
Viewed through my 1980s glasses, this just says, “We’re having trouble selling this brand-new model and have so little confidence that people want it that we’re already diligently sprucing it up and spraying some stupid paint on it.” A marketing message that comes across even more negatively – I can hardly think of it.
Ask yourself this question: the truly great cars, how many of them have special editions? 36 Ferrari 250 GTOs were made, and that was it. There aren’t fourteen left that were sprayed in some silly color and called ‘Ravioli’. There are only GTOs. I suspect this simply means that the ultra-rich were less insecure at the time – they didn’t have to prove that their GTO was just a little bit more special than the other’s.
Hopefully the last Chiron is quite normal
Because that’s what it all comes down to: being able to claim that your car is the better one. Imagine being so full of yourself that you find it necessary to have just a little more than someone else who also spent 2.5 million on a car… Hopefully the last Chiron Bugatti built is a perfectly normal, especially very unspecial. Or else they could at least spray paint him plain blue and put a ‘Bonus’ sticker on his butt.
