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Bugatti’s 254mph Veyron Vitesse officially world’s fastest drop-top

The Bugatti Grand Sport Vitesse has been officially confirmed as the world’s fastest open-top production car, having been clocked at 254.04mph. The milestone will be celebrated (naturally) with a limited run of special ‘World Record Edition’ Grand Sport Vitesses (which has been on sale since January 2012), with the commemorative cars sporting orange flashes to the carbonfibre bodywork, and orange wheels. Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse: a 250mph wind in your hair Bugatti admits that the initial open-top speed target for the Bugatti Grand Sport was a piffling 233mph.

Aston Martin Rapide – Official Valencia video

We have official video of the Aston Martin Rapide from Valencia Back at the start of February Aston Martin flew the world’s media to Valencia to party with the new Aston Martin Rapide. Even though Cars UK didn’t get an invite we decided to shove up a review of the Rapide covering what we knew from all the bumph Aston Martin had sent us and the opinions we’d formed from seeing the car. It wasn’t sour grapes – although it would have been nice to be asked – but looking at the reviews written by those who went on the ‘Jolly’ we were pretty much on the money.

Porsche announces new Weissach design center and wind tunnel

Porsche is to invest around €150m into its Weissach development facility, including a new design center. The plans also include an electronics integration department and a state-of-the art, on-site wind tunnel, which is hoped will allow the company to realize an holistic approach to efficient design, with a strong focus on aerodynamics. When we spoke with head of Porsche design, Michael Mauer, at this year's Paris motor show, he also alluded to the fact that the Volkswagen Group's – and, more specifically, Walter de'Silva's – recent influence on the German manufacturer was shifting its attitudes: "The Volkswagen Group has a very good understanding of how much freedom a brand needs to keep its characteristics and with [Walter] as 'conductor', I feel a lot of support with design issues within the company," explained Mauer.