News Bugatti extends Ricardo transmission contract to 2014

Whilst we don't usually cover business ventures and non-motorsport related contract extensions here on Team VVV, when we heard that Bugatti had extended its contract with British engineering firm Ricardo until 2014, we felt it was worthy of a mention on our news page.

The new contract in question regards the supply of the seven-speed dual clutch transmissions that, at this moment on time, has only ever been used on one car: the Bugatti Veyron (or two, if you count the Veyron SuperSport as a separate model).

That in itself is quite interesting, as it obviously means that Bugatti is still working on the Veyron. Indeed, if you have the extortionate funds that are needed to pay for one, you can still order a Veyron Grand Sport (the convertible version, to you and me), as – at time of writing – haven't been sold as of yet.

However, the fact the contract has been extended to cover two extra years is what made us sit up and pay attention to the press release. Mainly because – unless they didn't stockpile enough gearboxes to cover the 450 Veyron variants it was going to build – we have no idea as to what they'll be used for.

For the speculative among us, there are perhaps two possibilities: that the transmission is set to be installed in the upcoming 'Galibier' luxury saloon, which is said to be using the same 8.0 W16 engine as the Veyron. In which case, the opulent four-door Bugatti isn't as far off as Volkswagen and Bugatti officials have been claiming it has.

The more likely rumour, though, is that they may be used for what alleged Bugatti insiders claim to be a 1.600bhp 'SuperVeyron', which is apparently slated to be make its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show later this year in September.

Of course, none of this has been set in stone, and it's naive to believe that there will be more Bugattis in the near future – as we said earlier, Bugatti could have very well needed to replenish their supply of transmissions for the Veyron Grand Sport. They are, after all, built to order and, given there have been so many special edition Grand Sports since the car went on sale in 2009, it seems Bugatti is having a bit of trouble finding buyers for them.

Rest assured, though, if this does lead to a new Bugatti of some sorts popping up in the near future, an accompanying news item from us will be up on the site soon after we hear about it…

Log in with:

Please login to comment

0 Comments

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments