Bugatti Veyron: The story behind the name

Revered as the namesake of this iconic Bugatti model, Pierre Veyron's story is not merely one of motorsport triumph, but of technical ingenuity, steadfast loyalty, and a timeless alignment with Bugatti's core ethos.

Born in 1903, Veyron initially pursued engineering, before being drawn to the world of motorsport, where his and Ettore Bugatti's paths crossed. What caught the latter's eye wasn't Veyron's talent behind the wheel, but his sharp mechanical insight. This meant Veyron also became a development engineer, a trusted test driver, and ultimately, a confidant to the Bugatti family.

Ettore Bugatti and Pierre Veyron's partnership in 1932 would define the next decade of the latter's life as his hands shaped the performance and refinement of Bugatti's most advanced race machines

Veyron's racing career formally began in the late 1920s, with his breakthrough coming in 1930 with a victory at the Geneva Grand Prix. Armed with an intimate mechanical understanding - both gleaned from experience behind the wheel and in the workshop - Veyron worked closely with the Molsheim teams, offering real-time feedback that greatly pushed the evolution of the marque’s competition cars.

Throughout the 1930s, Veyron regularly competed in Europe's most demanding and prestigious motorsport events, with his defining moment arriving in 1939 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the final version before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Following the years after the end of the war, Veyron gradually stepped back from competitive racing, turning his attention to engineering and family. Still, his influence on Bugatti's racing legacy continued to resonate.

Among Veyron's achievements in the 1930s were victories at the 1933 Berline Avusrennen, the 1936 Grand Prix de l'ACF, and the 1939 24 Hour of Le Mans

Decades later, as Bugatti prepared to reassert its presence on the global stage with a new hyper sports car, discussions about what to name the car came up, which was easily answered with a blast from the past.

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 was launched in the early 2000s with a W16 engine offering over 986bhp and top speeds exceeding 400km/h. It redefined what was thought possible in a road-going car and just like Veyron, who bridged the worlds of racing and engineering, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 combined elegance with performance, carrying Pierre Veyron's legacy forward.