Halo Intersceptor Design Study is a Bugatti-like Flying / Swimming Car for Billionaires

I wasn't aware of this, but apparently billionaires absolutely despise leaving their cars to board other modes of transportation. You can just imagine Donald Trump sighing heavily in the back of his Maybach, "Do I really have to open the door and climb up those five little steps to board my Gulfstream V?"

No doubt feeling deeply for these disheartened millionaires, U.K. concept designer Philip Pauley has come up with the Halo Intersceptor [sic], a futuristic study for a car that can be transformed into a plane, a helicopter and even a boat.

It's pure flight of fancy, of course, with a 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) time of just 2.3 seconds and a top speed of 311 mph (500 km/h). It features a Bugatti Veyron rear end and a front that looks like it was stolen from Aptera's three-wheel electric car. Oh, and that concept car essential: gullwing doors.

The party piece though is the so-called Halo attachments which, when strapped on to the Intersceptor's body, allow it to be a private jet, four-seat helicopter or a 36 ft (11 m) power boat with a top speed of 63 knots (73 mph / 117 km/h).

It's very impressive, of course, but is it original? Not really.

In 1949, an engineer named Moulton Taylor designed and built a "roadable aircraft" called the Aerocar. Imagine this: you land your single-engine airplane at the airport, reverse the rear section / tailplane onto a trailer, detach it, fold the wings back and in less than 5 minutes you're ready for the road.

He built six of them and there are still a couple road/airworthy examples around today. It wasn't fast and it wasn't pretty, but it worked. Sort of.

By Tristan Hankins

Source: Fastcodesign , Designer: Philip Pauley

_______________________________GALLERY_______________________________

Bugatti Veyron Top Wallpapers

Bugatti Veyron Top Wallpapers

Bugatti Veyron Wallpapers

Bugatti Veyron Cool Wallpapers

2010 Bugatti Wallpapers

2010 Bugatti Wallpapers

2010 Bugatti Wallpapers

2010 Bugatti Wallpapers

2010 Bugatti Wallpapers

2009 Veyron Centenary Bugatti Sports Car a Special Editon Dubai Limited to five cars only

2009 Veyron Centenary Bugatti Sports Car

2009 Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. finishes its Centenary celebrations with three tailor made cars, especially developed for its discerning clientele in the Middle East: the Veyron “Sang d’Argent”, the Grand Sport “Soleil de Nuit” and the Veyron “Nocturne”, limited to five cars only. Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. presents the Bugatti Veyron Bleu Centenaire at the 2009 Geneve Motor Show, a special commission honouring the 100th anniversary of the company, thus initiating a range of worldwide activities celebrating the creation of this mythic brand a hundred years ago. In addition Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport is shown for the first time to a wider public in Europe.

2009 Veyron Centenary Bugatti Sports Car

Honouring the foundation of the company in 1909 Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S opened the anniversary with a one-off version of the Veyron, the “Bleu Centenaire”, at the Geneva Motor Show in March. At the Villa d’Este weekend at the end of April the company paid tribute to Bugatti’s racing history – which was to a great extend responsible for the worldwide reputation of the brand – with four very special Grand Sports, accompanied by their respective Type 35 predecessors, all featuring the traditional racing colours representing France, Italy, England and Germany, namely blue, red, green and white. Bugatti was then one of the honoured marques at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California in August and highlighted the event with the presentation of the “Sang Bleu”, a one off Grand Sport in a breathtaking and unique carbon – aluminium combination. The “100th Anniversary Weekend” in Molsheim in September was the platform for a glimpse into the future which might look like the Bugatti 16 C Galibier concept – intended to be the most exclusive, elegant and powerful four door automobile in the world.

2009 Veyron Centenary Bugatti Sports Car

Building on the marque's core values of « Art - Forme - Technique » , Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. has created the Bugatti Veyron Bleu Centenaire, a unique model to celebrate the hundred year old history of the company. This special model takes up the traditional Bugatti two-tone-specification, but portrays it in one rather than two colours: in the most known light shaded Bugatti blue. The Centenaire's unique combination of a « sprintblue matt » and « sprintblue gloss » hence offers a new impression of the two-tone-scheme known so far with parts of the engine also covered in this traditional Bugatti Blue.

2009 Veyron Centenary Bugatti Sports Car

The roof-trim-stripes and the exterior rearview mirrors are of polished, anodised aluminium. A special wheel design has been added - enhanced by a bright red brake-capillar. The grills at the front and at the side air intakes are in « mirror shine ».

The interior of the Centenaire is fitted in a special «snowbeige» leather with quilting on the seats. The central console is covered in the same leather. New LED lights, Park Distance Control and a rearview camera have become part of the standard equipment for all Bugatti Veyrons from this year onwards.

2009 Veyron Centenary Bugatti Sports Car

The Bugatti Veyron Bleu Centenaire shares all performance characteristics of other Veyron models performance-, acceleration- and deceleration characteristics which have been highly praised ever since the Bugatti Veyron first appeared on the scene. The car will cost 1,35 Million Euro exclusive taxes and transportation. The presentation of these very special cars at the Dubai Motor Show is the final highlight, with which Bugatti ends its Centenary celebrations. We are honoured to complete our 100 Years at this prestigious Motor Show of a very important market for Bugatti.

2009 Veyron Centenary Bugatti Sports Car a Special Editon Dubai Limited to five cars only

2009 Veyron Centenary Bugatti Sports Car

2009 Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. finishes its Centenary celebrations with three tailor made cars, especially developed for its discerning clientele in the Middle East: the Veyron “Sang d’Argent”, the Grand Sport “Soleil de Nuit” and the Veyron “Nocturne”, limited to five cars only. Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. presents the Bugatti Veyron Bleu Centenaire at the 2009 Geneve Motor Show, a special commission honouring the 100th anniversary of the company, thus initiating a range of worldwide activities celebrating the creation of this mythic brand a hundred years ago. In addition Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport is shown for the first time to a wider public in Europe.

2009 Veyron Centenary Bugatti Sports Car

Honouring the foundation of the company in 1909 Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S opened the anniversary with a one-off version of the Veyron, the “Bleu Centenaire”, at the Geneva Motor Show in March. At the Villa d’Este weekend at the end of April the company paid tribute to Bugatti’s racing history – which was to a great extend responsible for the worldwide reputation of the brand – with four very special Grand Sports, accompanied by their respective Type 35 predecessors, all featuring the traditional racing colours representing France, Italy, England and Germany, namely blue, red, green and white. Bugatti was then one of the honoured marques at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California in August and highlighted the event with the presentation of the “Sang Bleu”, a one off Grand Sport in a breathtaking and unique carbon – aluminium combination. The “100th Anniversary Weekend” in Molsheim in September was the platform for a glimpse into the future which might look like the Bugatti 16 C Galibier concept – intended to be the most exclusive, elegant and powerful four door automobile in the world.

2009 Veyron Centenary Bugatti Sports Car

Building on the marque's core values of « Art - Forme - Technique » , Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. has created the Bugatti Veyron Bleu Centenaire, a unique model to celebrate the hundred year old history of the company. This special model takes up the traditional Bugatti two-tone-specification, but portrays it in one rather than two colours: in the most known light shaded Bugatti blue. The Centenaire's unique combination of a « sprintblue matt » and « sprintblue gloss » hence offers a new impression of the two-tone-scheme known so far with parts of the engine also covered in this traditional Bugatti Blue.

2009 Veyron Centenary Bugatti Sports Car

The roof-trim-stripes and the exterior rearview mirrors are of polished, anodised aluminium. A special wheel design has been added - enhanced by a bright red brake-capillar. The grills at the front and at the side air intakes are in « mirror shine ».

The interior of the Centenaire is fitted in a special «snowbeige» leather with quilting on the seats. The central console is covered in the same leather. New LED lights, Park Distance Control and a rearview camera have become part of the standard equipment for all Bugatti Veyrons from this year onwards.

2009 Veyron Centenary Bugatti Sports Car

The Bugatti Veyron Bleu Centenaire shares all performance characteristics of other Veyron models performance-, acceleration- and deceleration characteristics which have been highly praised ever since the Bugatti Veyron first appeared on the scene. The car will cost 1,35 Million Euro exclusive taxes and transportation. The presentation of these very special cars at the Dubai Motor Show is the final highlight, with which Bugatti ends its Centenary celebrations. We are honoured to complete our 100 Years at this prestigious Motor Show of a very important market for Bugatti.

Live from Greenwich: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport

Today, we're bringing you our exclusive photos from our three-hour tour, brought to you in conjunction with our partners over at TheCarConnection.com. Tomorrow, we'll have a full MotorAuthority.com test drive, and later this month we'll bring you the latest photos of the new Grand Sport from the Pebble Beach Concours.


It's the Bugatti Veyron 16.4. Or, rather, the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, the targa-topped version of the singular two-seat coupe that's been around since 2005 with its 987-horsepower, quad-turbocharged, W-16 engine, dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive.


It's the most powerful passenger car on the planet. Also, one of the fastest. And the most likely to bankrupt small South American nations forced to decide between it and, say, a military.


It's also the most expensive car ever tested by the scribes here at MotorAuthority. We had the special opportunity last week to drive the Grand Sport, in advance of a special edition to come at the Pebble Beach Concours. Bugatti's U.S. sales arm provided us with a silver example for three hours in Greenwich, Connecticut, along with their U.S. marketing manager John Hill and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to teleport past Honda Accords on the Merritt Parkway.


Then, in September, Bugatti will be showing a new concept--a secret project car that's meant for clients' and dealers' eyes only. That concept won't be coming to the Frankfurt auto show as other sites have reported, but we'll be glued to the Web in case cell phone pics or video leak out. We're also planning on a special trip to Molsheim for the 100th anniversary of the Bugatti brand.


more detail. ...

New video and photos for Mansory Bugatti Veyron Linea Vincero

The modified supercar features an enhanced cold air induction system and an optimized exhaust, which enables the Bugatti's massive 8.0-liter 16 cylinder engine to produce 1109 hp and 1310 Nm of torque (instead of the standard 1001 hp and 1250 Nm of torque).





In terms of styling, Mansory equips the Linea Vincero Veyron with an extensive carbon-fiber body kit that includes a shorter hood, a new front apron, revised side skirts, and an aggressive rear diffuser. The company also adds a "V" insignia to the front grille, LED daytime running lights, and fully-forged turbine-design wheels.









Inside, the Linea Vincero Veyron features additional carbon-fiber trim and LED lighting fitted to seats, doors and dash.

More Photos

Bugatti Stratos Concept

The Bugatti Stratos is a product of Bruno Delussu, a graphic designer based in France. The concept was created purely as a fantasy vehicle with absolutely no intentions for a production model. As Bruno states, "I was not limited by the complex technicalities that a production line of such a car would require and found myself creating this vehicle for the viewer's eyes pleasure only."


Inspired by the Bugatti Type 57, Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Mille Miglia and Raymond Loewy's locomotive designs, Delusso rendered up this: the Bugatti Stratos. Aside from the rear window and grille, it's difficult to peg the Stratos as anything more than futuristic, Photoshop-enhanced navel-gazing, but the design speaks for itself.


The aim was to create a very aerodynamic and fluid profile, similar to the wing of an airplane. This shape is then broken up with knife sharp style lines to accentuate certain angles of the car.


The French graphic designer said that his goal with the Bugatti Stratos was to create a pure fantasy vehicle clearly focusing on the design aspect of the concept without taking into account the technical restrictions and the resulting styling limitations of a model intended for production.


Via: Diseno

First Bugatti Veyron Centenaire arrives at the dealership

　
Bugatti acted quite weird at the begining of this year. There would be yet another special Veyron. The Centenaire is a model to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Bugatti. We could see a Veyron with a metallic and matte colour in Geneva.


Bugatti has delivered the first of only four Bugatti Veyron Centenaire models to ever be produced. The vehicle was sent to London dealership Jack Barclay in the exclusive Mayfair district of London.


The Centainaire was unveiled in April at the Concorso d'Eleganza in Cernobbio, Italy. Each of the four models is a unique one-off model inspired by the Bugatti Type 35, and the racecar drivers that piloted them.


Every model has a special colour that could be found on a race Bugatti from before the war. You can also find the name of the racedriver in the interior. The exterior only differs in details. Adam came across this model in London at a dealer. Enjoy the pictures of this special Veyron.


The Bugatti Veyron Centenaire can be seen in all its glory, With beautifully polished grille, fenders, and doors, on the showroom floor of Jack Barclay in London. That is, until some resourceful chap buys the beauty.
Source:autogespot

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Production Begins

Bugatti will start producing the Grand Sport in very limited numbers - only 150 will roll off the production line in Molsheim, France. The first 50 units will go to existing registered Bugatti customers.


In 2008 at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in California the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport was first introduced to the public. Then chassis number one of this exclusive roadster went into auction and was sold for US$2.19 million. Of that amount US$900,000 was donated to the Pebble Beach Company Foundation Charity.


New equipment added includes a 2.7-inch monitor with a rear view camera and a Puccini sound system.


Rigidity has been enforced to keep the car sturdy and safe in any situation. The B-pillars have been cross-stiffened using carbon fibre support and additional protection given for side impact collisions and rolling.





Press Release

Production start for the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport

Media and customers complete first test drives

Last year's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in California was the setting for the very first public presentation of the new Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport. The response was extremely positive and now production of this roadster - limited to 150 units - is to begin at Molsheim. At the same time, the media and customers are taking their first test drives.

The new Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport confronted the marque renowned for impeccable automotive solutions, aesthetics and driving dynamics with a whole new set of challenges. In response to customer demand, significant modifications have been made to the vehicle's complex structure so as to enable open-top driving, thereby adding a new dimension to this high-performance sports car. Incorporating a host of new and innovative safety and equipment features, it is the world's fastest and most exciting roadster. It is immediately recognizable as a result of its slightly higher windscreen, stylized daytime running lights, and lightweight, transparent polycarbonate roof.

The main challenge in developing the new Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport with its removable roof resulted from the unique structure of the fixed-roof Bugatti Veyron. An optimum combination of rigidity and lightweight engineering ensures the monocoque passenger cell of the original model is extremely strong, while weighing an absolute minimum . As the roof is an integral part of the vehicle's structure, removing it meant the load paths had to be completely redesigned to maintain the vehicle's rigidity and crash safety, and to offer additional protection from side impacts and rolling.

As a result, the monocoque structure has been reinforced around the side skirts and the transmission tunnel. The B-pillars have been cross-stiffened using a carbon fibre support, and a central carbon plate has been positioned beneath the transmission tunnel to ensure the vehicle suffers from less torsional flexing than any other roadster.

The doors of the new Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport are made of carbon fibre, and house an integrated longitudinal beam. In the event of an accident, this transfers the load from the A to the B-pillar, thereby dissipating impact energy. Furthermore, the two redesigned air intakes for the 16-cylinder mid-engine now feature 10-centimetre wide carbon-fibre elements to offer protection in the event of a roll.

Along with moisture-resistant, backstitched leather, a range of new equipment features has been added to the interior, including a reversing camera with 2.7-inch monitor integrated in the rear-view-mirror, and the "Puccini" sound system with digital signal processor.

When the roof is closed, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport can reach 407 km/h, while speeds of up to 360 km/h are possible with the roof off. Should it rain, an innovative soft-top roof, like an umbrella, stored in the luggage compartment, can be opened up at any time. With this soft top in place, the car can travel at up to 130 km/h.

More than just an open Veyron

"When I had the chance to test-drive the new Grand Sport for the first time myself, I was filled with excitement", said Pierre Henri Raphanel, Bugatti's Pilot official, "as soon I shifted into second gear, I knew this was a completely different car. I could immediately feel the difference. Even with the roof still on, in the tips of my fingers and at the base of my spine everything was more present, more intimate. More precise with less understeer, almost as if you had taken away some filters from the suspension and the steering." The former Le Mans winner has probably driven more kilometres in a Veyron than anyone else,
presenting the car to numerous customers and the press. Taking off the roof "the excitement comes directly from the engine - giving you the feeling that you had a horsepower factory just thirty centimetres behind your head, trying to suck you up and swallow you," he raves.

Assembled by hand at the company's headquarters in Molsheim, Alsace, the Grand Sport will be delivered from July 2009 onwards at a price of 1.4 million euros (excluding taxes and transportation). Just 150 units will be made, with the first 50 of these going exclusively to registered Bugatti customers. So far 30 Grand Sports have been ordered. The Chassis Number one auctioned at the Pebble Beach Auction by Gooding and Company last summer and sold for 3.19 million Dollar. The additional revenues of 900.000 Dollar were donated by Bugatti to the Pebble Beach Company Foundation Charity.

via:World Car Fans