The first ever Veyron Grand Sport has been restored

Bugatti has started a new programme dedicated to restoring its cars, and this Grand Sport is first on the list.

The Veyron was something of a Concorde moment when the first customer car rolled off the production line in 2005. Just over 250mph, a sub 3-second 0-60 time and nigh on 1000bhp. Relatively standard figures for hypercars these days, but back in the mid-2000s it was incredible, especially given that it was relatively easy to drive.

Three years later, Bugatti revealed the Grand Sport at Pebble Beach. This was a targa top version of the Veyron that was limited to a measly 229mph with the roof off, but could still hit 253mph with it on.

The car pictured here is the Grand Sport ‘2.1’ - an unregistered demo car and also the first to go through Bugatti’s ‘La Maison Pur Sang’ programme. It’s been created to verify and authenticate various Bugatti models whilst also giving customers the option to restore and even reconfigure their cars.

2008 doesn’t really sound long enough ago to think a car needs a heavy restoration. Something tells us this Grand Sport wasn’t exactly sitting around in a dilapidated barn crumbling away in a heap of rust and covered in moss. However, it was the first Grand Sport prototype so it has been around the block a few times having travelled all over the world.

The metallic white silver Grand Sport was taken to Bugatti’s factory in Molsheim to be stripped down. All the VIN numbers stamped around the car were checked to ensure various different components were original and matching.

Four months of work went into the restoration, with all the body panels removed to be repainted. The interior was given a good going over, too. To match the car’s original configuration a new centre console was fitted and all the Cognac leather and aluminium parts were either refreshed or replaced.

This is probably the closest you’ll get to a brand new Veyron Grand Sport, and we think it looks pretty good in its original specification. Bugatti says it will have no problem renovating even the oldest cars through this new programme. So, if you’ve got an old Bugatti in need of some TLC, then you know where to go.