Sold: the final Bugatti Veyron

After a decade of production, the 450th and final ever Bugatti Veyron will be showcased at Geneva.

The suitably nameplated ‘La Finale’ example is set to share the Bugatti stand at next month’s international motor show alongside the very first Veyron produced before being whisked off to its owner in the Middle East.

The La Finale marks the end of an era for what is as much a testament to mankind’s engineering achievement as it is a representation of arguably the most famous hypercar of modern times.

After period of hiatus, the historic Bugatti brand was resurrected by Volkswagen after purchasing naming rights back in 1998, with the design of the production Veyron firming up around 2001.

The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 was finally launched in 2005, a four-wheel-driven two-seater coupe of considerable heft, but which represented a high watermark in performance motoring, courtesy of its outrageous specification and the heroic numbers associated with the car.

According to its maker, the Veyron formulae aligned four goals: to produce at least 1000PS (736kW), to achieve 400km/h or higher, to accelerate to 100km/h from a standstill in under three seconds and still provide first class comfort and style.

Initially, its extraordinary quad-turbocharged 8.0-litre W16 engine produced the requisite 1001PS together with ridiculous 1250Nm, with outputs blossoming – and performance claims supplanted – with successive versions throughout its 10-year lifecycle.

Major updates included 2008’s open-top Grand Sport, 2010’s more-powerful Super Sport and 2012’s Grand Sport Vitesse roadster.

Based off the Grand Sport Vitesse, the La Finale boasts 1200PS, or 883kW, with a planet-shifting 1500Nm and is claimed to achieve a 2.5sec 0-100km/h time on its way to a “world record speed” of an oh-so-exact 431.072km/h.

The average price for 450 Veyrons sold – “including options” says their maker – is 2.3 million euros, or more than 3.3 million Aussie dollars, with a neat 300 coupes built and a roadster count of 150 examples.

It’s been rumoured for some time now that a replacement for the Veyron is in the works that will use a petrol-electric hybrid powertrain that adopts a reworked version of the current 8.0-litre W16.