Jason Harper

Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) — It’s the ultimate test in self- confidence. You’re refueling Bugatti’s new convertible at a gas station in the Hamptons and the normally gawk-proof locals have gathered around, gawking. One man finally asks The Question.

“How much IS this car, anyway?”

Sliding back into the fine-leather cocoon of your open-top roadster, you fire up the 16-cylinder, 1,001-horsepower engine positioned behind your head.

“Two million, give or take.” {TO READ ON BLOOMBERG} [Read my BEHIND THE SCENES BLOG on it.]

Then, you whisk away in a roar of turbo power that drowns out the sound of dropping jaws. You may want to practice the answer first in front of a mirror.

With a base price of 1.4 million euros ($2 million), the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport is the world’s most expensive car in production. My test car is $2.1 million. Exchange rate fluctuations could swing the U.S. sticker by as much as the price of a new Porsche.

(Aston Martin’s coming One-77, at least 1 million pounds ($1.7 million) excluding tax, will also land in the top-dollar class.)

While the Grand Sport claims many superlatives, including the title of world’s fastest convertible, I doubt you’ll escape that question, even at a top speed of 253 miles per hour. Some bystander would cry out at the blur, “How much?”

For readers who do not sacrifice Toyota hybrids at the altar of exotic-car geekdom, allow me to catch you up.

Resurrected Marque

The Grand Sport is the convertible version of the Veyron 16.4, the 1.2-million euro coupe first released in 2006 after the storied Bugatti marque was resurrected by Volkswagen Group. With a top speed also of 253 miles per hour, it captured the title of the world’s fastest production car at the time.

The Grand Sport is the ultimate one-upper. With 150 slated for production, it’s rarer than the coupe, will go just as fast when the clear targa-style roof is attached, and you can smell your greenbacks burning as you tool around.

Roughly the size of a Honda Civic, the mid-engine, all- wheel-drive roadster is powered by a W-16 engine with four turbochargers that’ll fire you forward with 922 pound-feet of face-deforming torque. It has an automated seven-speed dual- clutch transmission, and a suspension that automatically adjusts according to your speed.

Utterly distinctive if not drop-dead sexy, it features two jet-like airtakes over the exposed mid-engine and a rounded, low silhouette. The interior is gorgeous but simple, with no screens and no storage. The roof is removed manually and must be stored elsewhere. While there’s an umbrella contraption that can be used in a pinch (really), best have Jeeves check the weather.

Maddening Hamptons

I get a day with it in the Hamptons, both ideal and maddening. Showing off your latest acquisition here is practically a religion, yet you’ll rarely exceed 35 mph.

It’s difficult to review the Grand Sport in a regular way. You could buy 10 Ferrari F430s for this price, and it’s clearly not 10 times as good. It’s a mega-luxury item, akin to a $9,000 Birkin bag which holds a wallet just like a regular bag.

What ostensibly makes the Veyron worth the $2 million? Could it be a Swarovski crystal-encrusted engine, those supple unicorn-leather seats or the tears of virgins in the window- washing fluid. Well, no. Mostly it’s the cost of engineering and the NASA-grade materials that keep the weight down.

To sustain sonic speeds, it needs special components, from a windshield that can sustain a bird strike to tires that won’t turn into sludge with extreme heat. VW probably spent the equivalent of a Wall Street bailout to engineer, build and test crash the two models.

How often will owners actually drive 253 mph? Never. But how often will they talk about it at parties?

Polo Practice

To answer that question, I pull into the grass parking lot of the Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge in Bridgehampton. My wife and I are instant, mysterious VIPs. Russian oligarchs perhaps, or Pablo Escobar’s former accountant, finally out of hiding.

We make new friends fast.

None of which has anything to do with the actual driving capabilities. In traffic, the Veyron is compliant and puppy-dog sweet, sans exotic-car antics. But drop your foot onto the gas and it becomes an earth-bound jet.

I have never experienced acceleration like this. Never.

Sixty flashes by in 2.5 seconds; 125 mph in just over 7. Basically, it’s twice as fast as fast cars. There is no lag; it just goes faster and faster and faster until you run out of courage and road.

You’re in a convertible, remember, and the engine sounds like an F-16 is behind your shoulder, about to drop its full payload. Absolutely delightful.

Spray the Hose

I do open the car up, but more in a dribble-the-spigot way than a spray-the-hose fashion, not wanting to spend the night in jail.

The carbon-ceramic brakes will give you whiplash and, on twisty roads, the Bugatti will do a fair imitation of a Ferrari 430 Scuderia. It’s amazing to scream around a corner in a car that costs the same as your dream two-bedroom home in the West Village.

At the end of the day, I step out exhilarated, yet also a bit relieved. Answering The Question (and its inherent need to justify that sum) is just a bit too stressful for my own particular man in the mirror.

The 2010 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport at a Glance

Engine: 8.0-liter, quad-turbo, W-16 with 1,001 hp and 922 lb-ft of torque.

Transmission: 7-speed dual clutch.

Speed: 0 to 60 in 2.5 seconds.

Gas mileage per gallon: 8 city; 14 highway.

Price as tested: $2.1 million.

Best feature: The mind-bending speed.

Worst feature: Trying to justify the equally mind-bending price.

Target buyer: A Master of the Universe.

(Jason H. Harper writes about autos for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Jason H. Harper at Jason@JasonHharper.com.