Bugatti Veyron "Jean-Pierre Wimille" sells for a record $5.4 million

A 2014 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse "Jean-Pierre Wimille" sold for a record $5.4 million at RM Sotheby's Zurich sale on Saturday. The hammer fell at 4.5 million CHF. It is the most ever paid at public auction for the Veyron, the marque's first modern hypercar.

RM Sotheby's had expected far less. Its pre-sale estimate ran from 2.4 million CHF to 2.8 million CHF, roughly $2.88 million to $3.36 million. The final price beat the top of that range by nearly 40 percent, and the house had put the car at around $3 million.

The previous public auction record was a one-off Veyron Grand Sport Sang Bleu, sold in 2024 for 2.35 million. The new price is more than double that figure. That earlier mark stood for two years, which is not long as records go.

What makes this Veyron different

Chassis no. 795063 is one of only three Jean-Pierre Wimille cars ever built. The edition is named for, and pays tribute to, the first driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Scarcity is the plain reason it outran a standard car.

Its colorway combines light blue with dark blue exposed carbon-fiber accents. The scheme was inspired by the Type 57G Tank that Wimille drove to victory at the inaugural running of the endurance race, the event that made his name.

The interior repeats the light and dark blue combination. Wimille's signature is embroidered into each headrest, and the door sill plates carry his portrait and signature. The Le Mans track layout is engraved onto a relief inlaid into the center console.

The engine and the numbers

The car is powered by an 8.0-liter quad-turbocharged W-16 paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. It makes 1,167 hp and 1,100 ft lbs of torque. Few engines of any era have needed that many turbochargers to make their point.

The Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse reaches 62 mph from a standstill in 2.6 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 233 mph. Our ranking of the fastest cars in the world now belongs to much newer machines, led by the Yangwang U9 Xtreme at 308.4 mph.

In our guide to what a Bugatti costs, the Veyron is the brand's entry point, starting at $1.9 million, with second-hand examples rarely trading below $1.5 million. This sale price is well above both figures. A special edition with a story behind it plays by different rules.

The Veyron's successor, the Chiron, starts at $2.9 million in that same guide, and the only Bugatti that can be ordered new today is the $4.1 million Tourbillon. The Wimille car, a 2014 model, has now cost its buyer more than either.

In our ranking of the 51 most expensive cars in the world, the Rolls-Royce Amethyst Droptail leads cars built this century at a reported $40 million, powered by a 6.75-liter twin-turbo V12. The record for any car is the $142 million paid in 2022 for a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe.

The same ranking ends at the McLaren Speedtail, at $2.25 million, so the Wimille result now clears the bottom of that list by a wide margin. Pagani, Koenigsegg and Lamborghini are in the middle of it, and Bugatti one-offs are near the top.

For Bugatti's own upper reaches, the coachbuilt Brouillard is the most valuable car on our Bugatti price list at roughly $20 million. The Veyron, by contrast, is a series-production car, and even this edition comes from a run of three.

The estimate miss is the awkward part for the auction house. Experts pegged the car near $3 million and bidders decided it was worth far more. Nobody has said who bought it or how many bidders pushed the price up.

The question now is how long the new record lasts. The previous one held for two years, and the owners of the other two Wimille cars may take note of this result. Neither has been reported as being for sale.

We track results like this in our coverage of garage news, where the Veyron is one of the modern classics collectors chase. A Veyron that sold for $2.35 million in 2024 and one that made $5.4 million now bracket the auction market.