Fernando Alonso knows his way around some extraordinarily fast machinery, and apparently Formula 1 cars aren’t enough. The two-time world champion has added another remarkable machine to his personal collection.
Footage shared on social media by Stefanie Cebis shows Alonso driving away from a Bugatti dealership in Monaco in a polished-aluminum Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse. This isn’t simply another multimillion-dollar Veyron, either.
The car is reported to be chassis 8100, a one-off Grand Sport Vitesse commissioned with an extraordinarily complicated polished-aluminum body. It has previously been described as the most expensive Veyron Bugatti ever built.
Exactly what Alonso paid is unknown. The car was previously offered for sale by German collector-car specialist Mechatronik without a publicly listed asking price, making its latest transaction another mystery surrounding one of the strangest Veyrons ever produced.
Bugatti Initially Didn’t Want To Build It
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Chassis 8100 was inspired by the limited-production Veyron Pur Sang, which famously combined exposed carbon fiber with polished aluminum. The customer who commissioned this Grand Sport Vitesse wanted to push the idea even further.
He demanded body panels milled from individual solid pieces of aluminum rather than sections welded together. Producing them required starting with around 20 tonnes of aluminum, and the complexity initially prompted Bugatti to reject the idea.
The customer wasn’t easily discouraged. He was apparently such a prolific Bugatti buyer that, after threatening to cancel several other orders, the automaker eventually agreed to build his unusual Veyron.
The result paired its mirror-like aluminum exterior with exposed carbon fiber and a bright red leather cabin. Personalized “Kaq” details originally appeared on areas including the headrests and grille, although some appear to have been removed or replaced by the time Alonso was seen with the car.
Its Options Cost More Than A Veyron
No official final invoice has been made public, which means putting an exact figure on the car would be pure guesswork. However, previous reporting on the Mechatronik listing said the cost of the options alone exceeded the Grand Sport Vitesse’s original multimillion-dollar base price.
That extraordinary specification is why chassis 8100 has been described as the most expensive Veyron ever built. When it surfaced for sale in 2024, it had reportedly traveled only around 750 kilometers, or 466 miles.
Underneath all that aluminum is the already extreme Grand Sport Vitesse. Bugatti says its quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 produces 1,200 PS, while the model is capable of reaching 410 km/h with its removable roof installed.
Alonso’s Collection Keeps Getting Wilder
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The Vitesse itself occupies an important place in Bugatti history. In 2013, a Grand Sport Vitesse reached 408.84 km/h with its roof removed, establishing an open-top production-car speed record at the time.
Alonso’s apparent purchase adds another exceptional car to a collection already associated with some serious machinery. Reports earlier this year also linked him with the one-off Pagani Zonda Diamante Verde, while his collection has included other highly desirable performance cars.
For most people, a regular Veyron would be the centerpiece of a lifetime collection. Apparently, when you’re a two-time Formula 1 world champion, you can hold out for the one that Bugatti initially thought was too expensive to build.