Man builds his own million dollar Bugatti supercar by hand
07-15-11, 05:01 PM
#1
Lexus Champion
Thread Starter
Man builds his own million dollar Bugatti supercar by hand
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technolo...211223675.html
The Bugatti Veyron is a modern automotive legend. The sleek speedster from Volkswagen boasts a top speed of over 260mph, making it the fastest road-legal car in the world, and it has a stunningly large $1.5 million price tag to match. Because of this astronomical cost of entry, only a few hundred of the vehicles have ever been built, meaning your chances of owning one are rather slim. That is, unless you're Mike Duff, an ambitious 25-year-old from Florida who decided to build his very own Bugatti with his bare hands.
Starting with a complete 2002 Mercury Cougar coupe, Duff set to work transforming the vehicle's entire exterior into that of a world-class supercar. He used fiberglass and composite material to create the Veyron's iconic lines, and laid it all over a tubular steel frame. After a professional paint job and plenty of buffing, the car was ready for the showroom, but Duff wasn't done yet. He then took to the Cougar's interior, covering everything from the seats to the dashboard in genuine leather. When we spoke with him, he said the project took him a full 9 months from start to finish.
The detailed doppelgänger even sports usable back seats, which is something the real million-dollar ride completely lacks. Speaking of price, that's another area where this fantastic fake beats out its original counterpart. Duff currently has the vehicle up for sale with a price of $89,000 — less than 1/10th the price of a genuine Veyron.
Unfortunately, while that price will buy you the looks of a barely-legal race car, it doesn't buy you the performance. Under its gorgeous exterior, the "Cougatti" is still distinctly pedestrian, and remains equipped with its original 2.5-liter V6 engine that produces roughly 170 horsepower. This is in stark contrast to the 8-liter 16-cylinder powerplant of the real car, which produces a neck-snapping 1,000 horses.
Still, for the price of a Porsche, there's not much you can complain about when the car is a nearly indistinguishable replica of the fastest road car in the world. Not to mention the fact that some other Bugatti tributes can cost an order of magnitude more, and are never meant to leave your office.
The Bugatti Veyron is a modern automotive legend. The sleek speedster from Volkswagen boasts a top speed of over 260mph, making it the fastest road-legal car in the world, and it has a stunningly large $1.5 million price tag to match. Because of this astronomical cost of entry, only a few hundred of the vehicles have ever been built, meaning your chances of owning one are rather slim. That is, unless you're Mike Duff, an ambitious 25-year-old from Florida who decided to build his very own Bugatti with his bare hands.
Starting with a complete 2002 Mercury Cougar coupe, Duff set to work transforming the vehicle's entire exterior into that of a world-class supercar. He used fiberglass and composite material to create the Veyron's iconic lines, and laid it all over a tubular steel frame. After a professional paint job and plenty of buffing, the car was ready for the showroom, but Duff wasn't done yet. He then took to the Cougar's interior, covering everything from the seats to the dashboard in genuine leather. When we spoke with him, he said the project took him a full 9 months from start to finish.
The detailed doppelgänger even sports usable back seats, which is something the real million-dollar ride completely lacks. Speaking of price, that's another area where this fantastic fake beats out its original counterpart. Duff currently has the vehicle up for sale with a price of $89,000 — less than 1/10th the price of a genuine Veyron.
Unfortunately, while that price will buy you the looks of a barely-legal race car, it doesn't buy you the performance. Under its gorgeous exterior, the "Cougatti" is still distinctly pedestrian, and remains equipped with its original 2.5-liter V6 engine that produces roughly 170 horsepower. This is in stark contrast to the 8-liter 16-cylinder powerplant of the real car, which produces a neck-snapping 1,000 horses.
Still, for the price of a Porsche, there's not much you can complain about when the car is a nearly indistinguishable replica of the fastest road car in the world. Not to mention the fact that some other Bugatti tributes can cost an order of magnitude more, and are never meant to leave your office.
07-15-11, 06:36 PM
#4
Lexus Test Driver
Not too shabby looking, I was expecting the proportions to look really out of whack.
The most embarrassing part has to be the way it sounds. There's pretty much nothing you can do to the small V6 that Cougar has to make it sound decent.
The most embarrassing part has to be the way it sounds. There's pretty much nothing you can do to the small V6 that Cougar has to make it sound decent.
07-15-11, 06:51 PM
#5
maybe buyer can tune up that 170hp and put some vossen at least
,,,but kudo to the kid for making it happen,,,
this is 2002 mercury cougar
,,,but kudo to the kid for making it happen,,,this is 2002 mercury cougar
Last edited by LIMS407; 07-15-11 at 06:56 PM.
07-15-11, 07:04 PM
#6
why would he be embaressed at a stoplight? I had a $136,000 1998 acura NSX supercharged widebody with every comptech mod possible and I never raced it. All you have to do is get in it and look good. The only problem is if he crashes or wrecks how the hell do you replace that stuff but that thing looks nice. I would drive it.
07-15-11, 07:16 PM
#7
Lexus Test Driver
that is called frontin, you know everybody respects the bugati on the streets and wouldn't dare run with it but ricers are always willing to test!!! with that same engine it is a great attemp but I think not messing with engine is a fail.... that's is similar to being a body builder that only works the upper body.... I think that kid has talents and will have job very soon.
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07-15-11, 08:35 PM
#11
why would he be embaressed at a stoplight? I had a $136,000 1998 acura NSX supercharged widebody with every comptech mod possible and I never raced it. All you have to do is get in it and look good. The only problem is if he crashes or wrecks how the hell do you replace that stuff but that thing
looks nice. I would drive it.
looks nice. I would drive it.
