Monday, February 20, 2006

"I feel the need...for speed!...."

It looks like a superhero's car. Batman, eat your heart out.

It goes from zero to sixty in 2.5 seconds. Think about that - one. two. sixty miles an hour.

Welcome to the Bugatti Veyron 16.4. Lovingly crafted by a division of Volkswagen.

Yes, Virginia - that Volkswagen.

Yes, it's an impossible dream - a cool $1.2 million per hand-tooled copy. Yes, it's an environmental disaster, getting about 9 miles per gallon, and at full throttle (on its way to a top speed of 253 mph) the 1,001-horsepower engine will run itself out of gas in 12 minutes.

But for anyone who ever thrilled to the idea of high-speed anything, or anyone who ever dreamed of stealing the Batmobile, or anyone who's ever hit the gas a little harder and whose blood pumped a little faster whenever Kenny Loggin's Danger Zone came on the radio - this is a dream turned to reality.

The New York Times article says it best:
The car's everyday top speed of 234 m.p.h. is enough to make it a king of the road. To be the performance emperor, though, the driver must resort to a second ignition key to the left of his seat.The key functions only when the vehicle is at a stop. A checklist then establishes whether the car - and its driver - are ready to go for the maximum speed beyond 250 m.p.h. If all systems are go, the rear spoiler retracts, the front air diffusers close and the ground clearance, normally 4.9 inches, drops to 2.6 inches.
My pulse rate goes up just reading that.

On a sad note for Top Gun fans, the F-14 Tomcat naval fighter is being retired. One of the best promoters for Navy recruiters is being put out to pasture.

Oh, well, that's all the fantasy we can stand for today. Off to the workaday/night world...

4 comments:

Im A Foto Nut said...

Excuse me while I go take a cold, wait a very very cold shower. After that I will have to look at naked pictures of 95 year old ladies for at least an hour before I will be able to stop walking funny.

Thanks for the rush!

Tom Scharbach said...

Batman, maybe. But I'll stick with a fine GM vehicle, myself.

I've never thought much of bugs of any sort -- slap them down or stomp them is my way of looking at things -- and dressing a bug up as a "bugatti" doesn't do much for me.

Bugatti? Now there's truth in advertising. Add a bunch of vowels and get people to forget that they are buying a Volkswagen. Maybe a Volkswagen dressed up like Sophia Loren, but a Volkswagen. Pffffft.

At least the Volkswagen bug was an honest, WYSIWYG kind of bug.

Anonymous said...

Wow...it's all so overwhelming. I'm about to drive my 93 Jeep Cherokee in a few minutes and what's to stop me thinking about the fact that I could trade it in and with another $1, 999, 950.35, I could be driving this monster.

hmmmmmm

Anonymous said...

A far stretch from your old bug! Only it dropped the gastank on the rack at the dealer. Soon a lime green Shovette!
Love Brother "Z"