World premiere for 'Les Legendes de Bugatti Black Bess' at Auto China Beijing

With its fifth model in the six-part 'Les Legendes de Bugatti' (Bugatti Legends) Edition, Bugatti has revived the legendary Type 18 'Black Bess', which went down in automotive history as one of the first ever street legal super sports cars. At the upcoming Auto China motor show in Beijing to be held from the 21^st to the 29^th April, Bugatti will globally premiere the modern interpretation of the Type 18 in the guise of the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse 'Black Bess'.

As with all other special edition, the current Legends model is limited to three units at €2.15 million (S$3.73 million) each. Of the four Legend models already presented, all twelve vehicles have been sold.

The Type 18, with a four-cylinder inline engine and 5.0-litre capacity, was capable of producing over 98bhp. With a top speed of 160km/h, the Type 18 was a true racing thoroughbred and the fastest road vehicle around.

The Type 18 was driven in races by company founder Ettore Bugatti and secured a win in his class in the important 1912 Mont Ventoux hill climb.

Bugatti limited the production run for the Type 18 to just seven units and sold them to an extremely select group of customers - including celebrated French aviation pioneer, Roland Garros who, in 1912, successfully crossed the Mediterranean in an airplane.

This particular Type 18, later named after the English racehorse 'Black Bess', is one of only three cars still existing and can be found in the Louwman Museum. Evert Louwman has kindly made the historic Type 18 'Black Bess' specially available to be present alongside the the current 'Black Bess' Legend Vitesse at the upcoming Auto China in Beijing.

As is the case with all of the Legend vehicles, the 'Black Bess' is based on the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse. Its 1,183bhp, eight-litre W16 engine achieves an unparalleled torque of 1,500Nm, and can hit the century mark in 2.6 seconds. With a maximum speed of 408.84km/h - Vitesse is the fastest production roadster ever built.

Constructed entirely of carbon fibre, the 'Black Bess' Legend Vitesse is finished completely in black. The gold-coloured accents are reflected in exquisite fashion while some of the Bugatti's body components - including the striking Bugatti horseshoe - are coated in 24-carat gold.