Bugatti has revealed the F.K.P. Hommage, a one-off creation marking two decades since the Veyron redefined the limits of road-going performance. Unveiled in Molsheim, the car forms the second commission under Bugatti’s Programme Solitaire and pays tribute both to the original Veyron and to the man whose vision made it possible, Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Karl Piëch.
The story of the Veyron is inseparable from Ferdinand Karl Piëch, who as chairman of the Volkswagen Group set Bugatti an uncompromising brief at the turn of the millennium: build a car with 1000PS (986bhp), a top speed beyond 400 km/h, all-wheel drive and the civility to arrive at the opera in formal dress. The technical solution he sketched on a Japanese bullet train – a compact W-engine configuration – ultimately became the quad-turbocharged W16 that underpinned Bugatti’s modern revival.
The engine’s short, wide architecture allowed Bugatti to package extraordinary output within a relatively compact footprint, contributing to the Veyron’s unusual combination of refinement and stability at extreme speed. In this latest interpretation, Bugatti uses the most advanced evolution of the W16, producing 1600PS (1578bhp)and paired with a reinforced dual-clutch gearbox. Larger turbochargers and revised cooling systems represent the final and most developed chapter of the platform’s 20-year evolution.
Hendrik Malinowski, Managing Director of Bugatti, said: ‘Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Karl Piëch was a man who saw the impossible not as a roadblock but as a challenge… The F.K.P. Hommage celebrates this uncompromising pursuit of excellence, combining the timeless proportions of the original Veyron with two decades of engineering evolution.’
Visually, the F.K.P. Hommage instantly takes us back to thr 2005 Veyron. Designed originally under Hartmut Warkuß, with a young Jozef Kabaň responsible for the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show concept, the Veyron’s Bauhaus-influenced form deliberately rejected the aggressive wedge shapes that dominated supercar design at the time. The horseshoe grille is now machined from a solid block of aluminium and integrated more fluidly into the surrounding bodywork, while revised panel breaks sharpen the characteristic two-tone colour division. Larger air intakes feed the uprated powertrain, and new 20-inch front and 21-inch rear wheels accommodate the latest Michelin tyre technology.
Inside, the departure from recent W16 models is more pronounced. A circular steering wheel and bespoke aluminium centre console reference the original Veyron, while custom Car Couture fabrics developed in Paris trim the interior. Most striking is the integration of an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon into the dashboard, mechanically powered by the car itself via a self-winding gondola mechanism.
Frank Heyl, Bugatti Design Director, said: ‘The Veyron was the first of its kind, and in the world of collectible automobiles, the first and last of a kind are always the most significant. It created an entirely new segment – the million-euro hypercar that could travel to the opera in the evening and break speed records by day.’
Limited to a single example, the F.K.P. Hommage stands as both a technical culmination of the W16 era and a reflective tribute to the philosophy that shaped Bugatti’s modern identity.
For more info, see bugatti.com
