First look: Bugatti Veyron bares all

WHAT does the world's fastest production car do when it's time for a midlife facelift? Why, don a glittering alloy coat, diamond-cut high-gloss aluminum shoes and plenty of carbon-fibre accessories including a bonnet, of course.

Yes, that symbol of automotive excess, the Bugatti Veyron, has reached middle age and, to celebrate, the born-again super-sportscar brand has wheeled out one of the biggest surprises of this week's Frankfurt motor show.

Not that the unpainted all-aluminium Pur Sang version, which weighs abut 90kg less than the standard Veyron coupe and translates to "thoroughbred" or "pure bred" in French, is just for show.

No, the Volkswagen Group's most exclusive brand will produce just five examples for five lucky, well heeled individuals - for the princely sum of $2.32 million (1.4 million Euro).

Four Pur Sangs were still available at last count.

The Pur Sang was unveiled at a lavish Volkswagen new model extravaganza the night before Frankfurt opened this week, before hitting the limelight alongside the limited-editon Murcielago Reventon from the Group's, dare we say it, less exclusive supercar brand - Lamborghini.

#gallery#Only about 100 Veyrons have been delivered since it was first unveiled at Frankfurt two years ago, equating to a build rate of about one vehicle per week.

That's slightly less than forecast, but Bugatti still has orders to keep it busy for at least a year - without counting the widely rumoured convertible Veyron that had been expected to appear in Germany this week.

"Some customers have told us they want more (customization)," said the CEO of both VW's Bugatti and Bentley divisions, Franz-Josef Paefgen. "No customer has complained about the power."