Walter de'Silva's forgotten 1999 Bugatti Concept

The car you see here is not the latest special edition Bugatti Veyron, nor is it a Chinese knockoff of the extreme hypercar. It is in fact a 1999 Bugatti Veyron design concept built by then-SEAT head of design, Walter de'Silva. It seems Walter was asked to submit a design concept by then-head of Volkswagen Design, Hartmut Warkuss. Word came that VW head honcho Ferdinand Piëch was working on the revival of the Bugatti brand and he needed some proposals. This full-scale mockup was built and presented, but ultimately rejected in favor of Hartmut's own design. Thank goodness.

The de'Silva concept car languished in some dark corner until Quattroruote uncovered it and printed a spread on the car in August. Scans of that article have found their way onto the interwebs and ultimately into our own grubby little hands so we could share them with you. While there are some similarities between the de'Silva concept and the production Veyron, we're glad VAG decided to go with the Warkuss design. Based on the Giugiaro-styled Chiron 18.3, the Veyron ultimately looked much more sophisticated and elegant. Still, this concept lives on as a footnote in the long story of the world's most outrageous supercar.

[Source: Quattroruote via Coachbuild.com and ryanokeefe]