Want To Join The 200-Mph Club? - Brief Article

Automotive Industries,  Oct, 1999  

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The race for supercar supremacy continues unabated in Europe. The show stopper at last month's biennial Frankfurt auto show was Volkswagen AG's debut of the Bugatti 18/3 Chiron. The Chiron's carbon-fiber body was jointly styled by Italdesign and VW's in-house studio. The 18/3 is powered by a W-18 engine, built using three banks of six cylinders apiece. Mounted just behind the seats, the 6.3L engine delivers a claimed 555hp to all four wheels through a hydraulically-activated clutch, providing the car with a top speed above 190 mph. VW hopes to produce a limited run of 50 or so Bugattis in 2001. The price: about $300,000.

Not to be out-Pieched, DaimlerChrysler AG displayed a roadster version of its Mercedes-Benz Vision SLR coupe. The drop-top sports a slightly taller deck to accommodate the convertible top. Like the SLR coupe, the roadsters body and frame are constructed of aluminum and carbon fiber. An AMG-tuned, supercharged, 557hp 5.5L V-8 beats under the hood, able to propel the SLR to a claimed 200 mph. Limited production, by McLaren, will start by late 2002 with an annual projected output of about 500 cars.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Cahners Publishing Company
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group