Man builds his own million dollar Bugatti supercar by hand

[SLRdude]

The Bugatti Veyron is a modern automotive legend. The sleek speedster from Volkswagen boasts a top speed of over 260mph, making it the fastest road-legal car in the world, and it has a stunningly large $1.5 million price tag to match. Because of this astronomical cost of entry, only a few hundred of the vehicles have ever been built, meaning your chances of owning one are rather slim. That is, unless you're Mike Duff, an ambitious 25-year-old from Florida who decided to build his very own Bugatti with his bare hands.

Starting with a complete 2002 Mercury Cougar coupe, Duff set to work transforming the vehicle's entire exterior into that of a world-class supercar. He used fiberglass and composite material to create the Veyron's iconic lines, and laid it all over a tubular steel frame. After a professional paint job and plenty of buffing, the car was ready for the showroom, but Duff wasn't done yet. He then took to the Cougar's interior, covering everything from the seats to the dashboard in genuine leather. When we spoke with him, he said the project took him a full 9 months from start to finish.

The detailed doppelgänger even sports usable back seats, which is something the real million-dollar ride completely lacks. Speaking of price, that's another area where this fantastic fake beats out its original counterpart. Duff currently has the vehicle up for sale with a price of $89,000 — less than 1/10th the price of a genuine Veyron.

Unfortunately, while that price will buy you the looks of a barely-legal race car, it doesn't buy you the performance. Under its gorgeous exterior, the "Cougatti" is still distinctly pedestrian, and remains equipped with its original 2.5-liter V6 engine that produces roughly 170 horsepower. This is in stark contrast to the 8-liter 16-cylinder powerplant of the real car, which produces a neck-snapping 1,000 horses.

Still, for the price of a Porsche, there's not much you can complain about when the car is a nearly indistinguishable replica of the fastest road car in the world. Not to mention the fact that some other Bugatti tributes can cost an order of magnitude more, and are never meant to leave your office.

[SLRdude]

I guess nothing is safe from becoming a replica, and much like watches, this one is junk too.

One must at least appreciate the skill and will power that went into this though.

[mtrunner]

Totally lame. Who would want this replica?

[Route 66]

I'd like to see some pics of the interior of his Cougatti.

[onkyo]

Originally Posted by mtrunner

Totally lame. Who would want this replica?

x2..... so you crank the key and hear a Mercury Cougar....

A clown in a presidential outfit.

[RolexWatcher]

89k for that?

[STEELINOX]

hmm, nice car...

[Grumpy Badger]

These guys have been busy lately...


Seriously, $90k would buy you a NICE car, not a bad copy built in a shed!

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by Grumpy Badger

These guys have been busy lately...


Seriously, $90k would buy you a NICE car, not a bad copy built in a shed!

Yeah, I would definitely have a 911 instead of that junk.

[rolexsweep]

Originally Posted by Grumpy Badger

These guys have been busy lately...


Seriously, $90k would buy you a NICE car, not a bad copy built in a shed!

Trippppplleeee Face palmmmmmm Couldnt say it any better

[dddrees]

I guess I just don't get it.

[Ebruner]

Loser mobile if you ask me...



-Eddie

[gwalker]

WOW...... Why would you do that? A V6? At least most of the Cobra replica's look good and have a real engine.....

[jamesisajeweler]

Even if this car is not the real thing, I can appreciate the skill the maker of this replica has. Hopefully he will use his talents to build his own car line one day.

I will not begin to trash this man's ability to build a replica car such as the Cougatti, many of us wouldn't even know where to begin building any kind of car.

[ManUtd]

Simply put this guy has skills. He should use these skills to design/build his own car and not replicas IMO.

[mtrunner]

Originally Posted by ManUtd

Simply put this guy has skills. He should use these skills to design/build his own car and not replicas IMO.

How is it not a Replica when he says he designed the car based on a specific model? If he wants to show off his skills then he should design his own car and build it. That is not what he did here.

[ManUtd]

Originally Posted by mtrunner

How is it not a Replica when he says he designed the car based on a specific model? If he wants to show off his skills then he should design his own car and build it. That is not what he did here.

You lost me buddy. Do you agree with me that he built a replica and that he is better off designing/building his own car? That is exactly what I said earlier.

[mtrunner]

Originally Posted by ManUtd

You lost me buddy. Do you agree with me that he built a replica and that he is better off designing/building his own car? That is exactly what I said earlier.

My bad. I misread your post and thought you said the car was not a replica. I have been staring at the computer screen far too long today. Sorry for the confusion.

[Evo-L]

From 100 feet away that guy is the man in that thing.

[Grumpy Badger]

Originally Posted by Evo-L

From 100 feet away that guy is the man in that thing.

Yet, from 99ft away, he is a tool in that thing!

Not a Trade-off I'd be willing to make!

[jasonclark]

It looks better than 90% of replicas. Still wouldn't buy/drive it. It might get some looks from passerby, until the Honda Civic next to you flies past and you can't catch up...

[rolexpawn]

Reminds me of the kit cars of the 1980's with Chevette parts.

[blackmsport]

like turning a Casio into a Rolex Daytona

[Mike B]

Let's hope no-one wants to race him in that thing.

[sherwin]

One guy in japan did the same to a honda nsx, turned it into some ferrari (cant remember!)

[vh_bu98]

Wouldn't that be a copyright or trademark violation in a way?

[blackmsport]

Originally Posted by vh_bu98

Wouldn't that be a copyright or trademark violation in a way?

he built it for himself should be OK as long as he doesn't call it a Veyron

[wokafu]

i wont go so far to say its BAD...actually i admire his handwork...maybe he should post the process from start in pix just to show how much effort he put in...

[conrail]

Looks cool, but this is a complete deal breaker with any of these weird "kit" cars:

remains equipped with its original 2.5-liter V6 engine that produces roughly 170 horsepower. This is in stark contrast to the 8-liter 16-cylinder powerplant of the real car, which produces a neck-snapping 1,000 horses.

You're gonna see that thing coming down the street but its gonna sound like sh*t...so sad

[Frogman4me]

Someone hand typed this face palm.....

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