RE: You Know You Want To: Bugatti EB110 SS

RE: You Know You Want To: Bugatti EB110 SS

Wednesday 19th December 2012

You Know You Want To: Bugatti EB110 SS

How long before the EB110 meets the Veyron going the other way in value? Get in there quick...



Alright, this isn't exactly typical YKYWT fare in the way a £4K Honda S2000 or a £2K Alfa 33 4WD might be. A Bugatti EB110 SS with an asking price of £415,000 is unlikely to ever be an impulse purchase, spurred on by friendly goading from an internet forum. However, should your Christmas bonus be exceptionally, obscenely large this year, an EB110 can be warranted on solid financial foundations. Should be quite good fun too...

It's got the rarity factor on its side for starters. Just 31 SS versions of the EB110 are believed to have left the Bugatti factory, alongside 94 GT models. Ferrari's run of 349 F50s looks like mass production by comparison. Yet every single F50 for sale in the PH Classifieds is costlier than the Bugatti.

A safer place for your money than a Veyron?
A safer place for your money than a Veyron?
With the Veyron and its SS flagship seizing world records since 2005, attention has been diverted from the EB110 for many years now. This is despite the fact the SS recipe had already produced spectacular results in the Veyron's predecessor.

Of course, the EB110 was already an undeniably quick car; a 3.5-litre quad-turbocharged V12 powered all four wheels and 1,618kg with 560hp. To make an EB110 SS, weight was taken out and power was added in; 1,618kg became 1,488kg and 560hp became 611hp. The former was due to carbon fibre replacing aluminium for some body panels, magnesium being used for the wheels and the deletion of some equipment. The power gains came courtesy of bigger injectors and two fewer catalysts combined with a revised ECU and new exhaust.

The cumulative effect of these modifications was a claimed 0-62mph time of 3.3 seconds and a top speed of 220.6mph. This latter figure made the EB110 briefly the fastest road car in the world in the early 1990s, besting the Jaguar XJ220 but soon to be outclassed by the McLaren F1.

Less weight, more power and rare too
Less weight, more power and rare too
So why isn't this example being drooled over by collectors, desperate to bolster their fleet with another appreciating asset? It would appear to be that great intangible of desirability. Whilst the McLaren retains its no-compromise supercar status and the F50 hails from perhaps the most famous supercar maker of them all, the EB110 simply hasn't been as fondly remembered. Are some maybe put off by its rather pugnacious appearance? Or perhaps all EB110s really have been overshadowed by the Veyron?

But let's not get carried away; this is still a car with a value approaching half a million pounds and, if subjective desirability is still a discussion point, that's still twice as much as an XJ220. It's not exactly bottom-rung supercar money.

On the flip side, look at the SS this way: it's a 600hp, 220mph V12 Italian supercar produced in tiny numbers that is only likely to increase in value. And that is more than can be said for its Veyron successor, which hasn't proved impervious to the ravages of depreciation. It's still many miles from bargain supercar territory (and even the EB110) but this 2010 Veyron has shed nearly 12 per cent of its value over just 1,680 miles. A snip at £745,000.


Bugatti EB110 SS (1993)
Price
: £415,000
Why you should: A 90s supercar that can still hold its own today and could increase in value.
Why you shouldn't: It is nearly half a million quid; how long until a Veyron is available for that? Also, F40s are available now for less, and they're appreciating too...

See the original ad here

Author
Discussion

rhinochopig

Original Poster:

17,932 posts

197 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
Boom-Squeal-Boom-Squeal-Yip-Yip-Yip

Baryonyx

17,990 posts

158 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
Always loved these. A thing of beauty!

HTP99

22,443 posts

139 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
I remember one of these driving past work a couple of years ago, loved seeing such a rare and expensive car on the road.

DaveyBoyDave

13 posts

150 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
I know beauty is subjective and everything, but by the beard of Zeus those things are ugly.

Aused

293 posts

168 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
I clearly missed the story where Pistonheads (and EVO) were rebranding as 'car speculator' magazine. not that they are alone on that these days, but there are some of us who are actually interested in the cars for their own sake, were interested before they became 'alternative investments' and will continue to be interested after the inevitable bust that will follow at some point. i'd rather my favourite site didn't become the automotive equivalent of 'location location location' in 2007 soapboxgetmecoat

Twoshoe

847 posts

183 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
Baryonyx said:
Always loved these. A thing of beauty!
+1. I personally think they look a lot better than the Veyron.

Byronwww

392 posts

138 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all

immortallucifer

58 posts

138 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
I remember one of these being regularly parked outside a local business, and I drooled over it every time I saw it! That one was silver too.....wonder if its the same one?

I would love to have a go in this....4 turbo and 12 cylinders sounds like a wonderful recipe!


Itsallicanafford

2,759 posts

158 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
if we are talking purely about making money, My £415k Would go on as many E46 M3 CSL's as i could get with maybe a couple of 512TR's as a hedge if i haven't already missed the boat on them...

Captain Muppet

8,540 posts

264 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
DaveyBoyDave said:
I know beauty is subjective and everything, but by the beard of Zeus those things are ugly.
Yeah, but good ugly, like an Alfa SZ.

I like EB110s, but I'd rather have a house with a barn, an SZ, an RVF 750, an SP1, an F360, one of the many 911s I like, an Exige and a 635CSi instead.

General Fluff

478 posts

136 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
Aused said:
I clearly missed the story where Pistonheads (and EVO) were rebranding as 'car speculator' magazine. not that they are alone on that these days, but there are some of us who are actually interested in the cars for their own sake, were interested before they became 'alternative investments' and will continue to be interested after the inevitable bust that will follow at some point. i'd rather my favourite site didn't become the automotive equivalent of 'location location location' in 2007 soapboxgetmecoat
Would you rather this article didn't exist? Pistonheads gives me something interesting to read about cars every day, with a wide range of angles. Stop moaning.

As for the car, shame it will probably not be driven much, especially as it's too ugly to enjoy from the outside!

GTRene

16,369 posts

223 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
I think the EB110 SS looks better then the GT version.

Here a EB110 GT vs Hartge Z3 5.0 biggrin

rare (94) vs ultra rare (1) ever made.


gforceg

3,524 posts

178 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
rhinochopig said:
Boom-Squeal-Boom-Squeal-Yip-Yip-Yip
I know what you mean. I can't remember which of his books it's in but such a good piece.

rumple

11,671 posts

150 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
DaveyBoyDave said:
I know beauty is subjective and everything, but by the beard of Zeus those things are ugly.
Thought it was only me, looks like a 300zx has driven through Halfords covered in Superglueyikes

rhinochopig

Original Poster:

17,932 posts

197 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
gforceg said:
rhinochopig said:
Boom-Squeal-Boom-Squeal-Yip-Yip-Yip
I know what you mean. I can't remember which of his books it's in but such a good piece.
Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence and a Bad Haircut.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=T7h3g--hKhAC&am...

gforceg

3,524 posts

178 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
rhinochopig said:
Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence and a Bad Haircut.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=T7h3g--hKhAC&am...
Ta! A late enrty for Christmas perhaps...

Dr G

15,159 posts

241 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
Always wanted one, still do. On a purely 'pick one to drive' basis I would take it over the Jag, over the Ferrari and even over the Mclaren.

Crook

6,714 posts

223 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
rhinochopig said:
gforceg said:
rhinochopig said:
Boom-Squeal-Boom-Squeal-Yip-Yip-Yip
I know what you mean. I can't remember which of his books it's in but such a good piece.
Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence and a Bad Haircut.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=T7h3g--hKhAC&am...
Thank you for that. thumbup

Limpet

6,293 posts

160 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
Only if I already had the F40...... smile

2loud

53 posts

152 months

Wednesday 19th December 2012
quotequote all
rhinochopig said:
Boom-Squeal-Boom-Squeal-Yip-Yip-Yip
Haha, yes, thanks for the memory trigger.

In that deep blue colour please.