The release of the Veyron 16.4 in 2005 reignited the battle to build the fastest production car on the planet.

McLaren’s F1 had reigned supreme for two decades before the W-16-powered Bugatti clocked 408.47 km/h at the Ehra-Lessien test track.

That new yardstick encouraged competition from Koenigsegg, Hennessey, and SSC.

Yet the original inspiration for the Veyron’s straight-line prowess had never been to merely beat other road cars.

Former Volkswagen Group chairman Ferdinand Piëch, the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, was Porsche’s motorsport boss when the fearsome 917 chalked a record 362 km/h at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

That benchmark stood for some 17 years until a specially modified Peugeot took to the Mulsanne Straight with the sole aim of achieving the highest top speed.

That P88 prototype hit 407 km/h to ultimately give Piëch a target to one day eclipse.

Mission successfully completed for the Veyron, once the 300 coupés were spoken for, Bugatti unveiled the Grand Sport at ...