Numbers first, because with the Bugatti EB218 they are the story: 6250 cc, 72 Valve W18, 555 bhp at 6800 rpm. Bugatti built from 1999, when airbags, anti-lock brakes and Japanese build quality became the world standard. Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign drew it.
Where it came from
The Bugatti EB 218 saloon is the second concept car presented by Bugatti under the ownership of the Volkswagen Auto Group. The EB 218 was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, who also designed the EB 112, the car's predecessor and the EB 118, the car's 2-door variant. The EB 218 can be considered as an update of the EB 112, a concept saloon introduced by Bugatti Automobili SpA in 1993. The EB 218 features Volkswagen's unconventional W18 engine and permanent four-wheel drive borrowed from the Lamborghini Diablo VT.
Under the skin
Power comes from 6250 cc, 72 Valve W18; 555 bhp at 6800 rpm is the published figure. It weighs 2177 kg. Work it out per tonne and you get about 255 horsepower — genuine supercar pace. It shifts through a 5-speed automatic. The layout matters: drive goes to all four wheels, which is what lets the power be used on a wet road. The wheelbase is 3000 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Bugatti EB 112; its successor was the Bugatti 16C Galibier. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Bentley Hunaudières, the Porsche 911 GT3, the Lamborghini Murciélago — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Bugatti catalogue sit the Bugatti 57 Galibier and the Bugatti 8-cylinder line.