Filed under: Bugatti
Catching up with Ralph Lauren's Bugatti Veyron

There aren't many cars that can make a grown man go all giddy inside. Exotics from automakers Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren all come to mind, but there's one car that beats all others, and that's the Bugatti Veyron.
We can imagine how one fan, Doug DeMuro on the GTP forums, must have felt when he came across the million dollar supercar whilst driving in the Colorado countryside, near an estate owned by fashion designer and known Veyron owner Ralph Lauren. Driving past the main building of the estate, roughly 15 to 20 garage spaces could clearly be seen, and further up the highway was an ominous black shape moving very fast.
The chase was on, but keeping up with the world's fastest production car is no easy task. After completing a three-point-turn on a 65mph state highway and picking his way through the rural two-laner, the poster managed to snap several pics of Ralph and the Veyron as they darted away. Later, catching up to the car in a parking lot, Ralph Lauren was gracious enough to talk to Doug about the car and call it "incredible."
Check out the forum post at the "Read" link for the full story and many more photos of Ralph's Veyron.
[Source: GT Planet forums]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John P. 11:21AM (7/20/2007)
From what I've read and heard, Ralph is quite a car guy. Sounds like he's a pretty decent guy overall also. Being followed like that by cameras must be a real pain in the arse though.
About the Veyron, It's kinda cool and all, but it wouldn't even be in my top 10 if I had that kind of dough to spend on cars. The looks just do much for me. Cool story.
Reply
F451 11:23AM (7/20/2007)
I would advise Doug to be careful as he was essentially stalking the famous designer. It was pleasant of Lauren to speak with him about his Veyron, but I think Doug took it too far.
Reply
vectorbug 11:32AM (7/20/2007)
I think VW took it too far by making a car that does 250mph.
Mike 11:48AM (7/20/2007)
How is what he did any different from any other journalist?
Who are you Madonna? Lohan? Stalking?! Gimme a break.
MikeW 4:17PM (7/20/2007)
But it doesn't. It only goes 235mph [handling] without using the cheater mode. In the normal (low downforce) seting you'd be able to get 245mph, but it would be iffy, so VW doesn't let you do that.
Joe 11:52AM (7/20/2007)
doug did not take it too far he was stalking his car not the designer i'm sure ralph lauren knows that with a car like that he's likely to be followed... and from what i've heard of the story ralph lauren was very friendly, had a chat, and let pictures be taken.
Reply
JimmyTheMonkey 12:16PM (7/20/2007)
Let me start off by saying that the McLaren F1>Bugatti Veyron IMO.
Anyway. Ralph has a great collection. It was on display at the Boston MFA 2 years ago, and I enjoyed it. In addition to lots of beautiful vintage tin, he had such rarieties as a Ferrari 250 GTO, Mercedes Gullwing, Porsche 550 Spyder, and McLaren F1 on display.
Reply
David S. 12:18PM (7/20/2007)
I say RL was extremely gracious to let that exchange happen. I'm glad Doug seems to recognize that, but he was still being a bit fanboyish in his actions. Fact is, just because it's a Veyron doesn't mean it's public property. All RL had to do was goose the go-pedal and it woulda been game over.
But I'll tell you who's even MORE gracious-- the long-distance girlfriend. Came all the way from ATL to spend some quality time with our chap Doug. Quality time consists of: being woken up suddenly, tossed around in the car, BF is performing several illegal and dangerous maneuvers, and for what? Someone else's car.
Reply
fbxcore 1:14PM (7/20/2007)
You people disgust me in saying that it was that gracious of ralph to talk to the guy. Ralph Lauren is just another person like you and me, another human being. It's not like he has really accomplished anything aside from ripping off hundreds of thousands of people on pieces of sewn cloth.
Reply
Bryan 3:53AM (7/21/2007)
Value is in the eye of the beholder. I'm sure the people that buy his clothes hardly feel ripped off and if they do they have plenty of other options. Sorry, that was very off topic and uncarguy of me. I just hate the snipers from Autoblog Green ;)
eddie 2:21PM (7/20/2007)
all black on a veyron looks so nice. i saw on mtv cribs that RL got the first veyron in the usa, and a record producer got number 2.
i still think the mclaren is better, even after seeing a veyron in person, but what a sight to see.
Reply
FThorn 2:57PM (7/20/2007)
I want a picture of the house with 20 garage bays.
Reply
DT8723 4:36PM (7/20/2007)
What's actually kind of ironic is seeing a Veyron in the same frame as a Jo Mama's Moving truck.
Reply
Deuce 5:41PM (7/20/2007)
I've driven past Ralph's estate while traveling through Colorado, and I'd bet that the cost of his white fencing surrounding the property is higher than the GDP of most small countries.
Reply
Charles Bronson 4:47AM (7/21/2007)
Message to Doug:
Careful, they're Ruffles!
It's cool that Ralph Lauren turned out to be such a nice guy.
FerrariGTO 1:25AM (7/27/2007)
You cannot see any of Ralph's buildings from the road. I don't know what this guy is talking about........with 17,000 acres, you think he would put his garage near the street?
Reply
Dan Grosp 6:14PM (8/12/2007)
He should of put the hammer down and left the kid in the dust.
-Dan Grosp
http://www.grosp.com
Reply