Mat Armstrong is a man who never backs down. The British YouTuber has spent months rebuilding a heavily crash-damaged Bugatti Chiron, despite having no official support from the hypercar manufacturer. Now, the YouTube legend is at it again, this time with a Veyron.
Armstrong recently bought a special Veyron that turned out to be a one-off Oakley design, with carbon fibre bodywork and interior pieces. It also had more power, up to 1,200hp from 1,000hp and it had 100lbs less weight than a standard Veyron. But Armstrong had taken a risk with it.
The car was sold as a non-runner, although when it got back to the UK, he was able to do plenty of diagnosing of the car’s problems, which led to problems with the clamps on the fuel hoses. However, Armstrong is now facing another problem as he tries to fully fix the supercar.
Once again, he said in a recent video that Bugatti won’t help him out. Armstrong is after just one more part that would ensure the car is fully healthy once again. Technically, there is a way Armstrong can get the part he needs, but it hinges on one condition.
This Bugatti Veyron Isn’t Blacklisted
One of the problems Armstrong has faced is that some of the cars have been blacklisted by Bugatti. Due to how much damage the cars have had and been classed as write-offs, Bugatti has blacklisted them and refused to help. They can still be legally put back on the road, but the manufacturer just wasn’t going to supply parts.
With this particular Veyron, however, things were a little bit different. It had not been involved in a major accident, and it seemingly isn’t a car that has any truly major issues. So Bugatti did get in touch with Armstrong and offered to help him out with it. But, as you might have already guessed, there was a catch. Bugatti would only help the YouTuber out on one condition, and Armstrong wasn’t exactly thrilled about it.
This car needed new front and rear brake pads. Not too big of a deal, and Armstrong actually hoped that this time, he might be able to get some support from the manufacturer. Incredibly, they said no, and they told Armstrong that they would need specific bedding-in via a special procedure that the manufacturer had to perform. Then came the cost, with Bugatti telling Armstrong it would cost £50,000, or roughly $67,000. Nearly $70,000 just to fit and test out new brake pads.
Armstrong Was Not Willing To Pay That Much Money
Having already paid a lot of money to actually own the car, and with the whole point being to spend as little as possible to get it going again, Armstrong wasn’t happy. “It’s made-up nonsense. That is utter rubbish,” Armstrong said, not convinced at all that the car needed to go through this procedure. So what did he do? He decided to go and source them himself, and managed to find a set of brakes for the car at a cost of £1,500, or roughly $2,021.
No matter what Bugatti says to him, Armstrong always seems to find a way to get around problems. Whether it be brakes or sourcing windshields for his cars. Bugatti claims that doing it his way isn’t safe, but the YouTuber isn’t buying knock-off parts. He is ensuring that the rebuilds are done as safely as possible. Remarkably, this is the third Bugatti that the YouTuber has worked on, and he hasn’t had any official support from the hypercar company. And who knows, maybe one day Armstrong will be able to make it four!