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Who was Elisabeth Junek, and why is Bugatti giving her a special Veyron?

Bugatti is in the habit of recalling names from its storied history on the nameplates of its new models. The Veyron, after all, was named after Pierre, one of its most accomplished racing and test drivers. So, too, was the concept that preceded it named after Louis Chiron, another Bugatti racing driver of yore. And lately, the Alsatian marque has been reviving other names from its history with a series of special editions.
The "Légendes de Bugatti" series kicked off with the Jean-Pierre Wimille edition last year, which was followed by the Jean Bugatti edition and the Meo Costatini edition (pictured above) just a few months ago. We would have expected that the next one would honor Jean's brother Rembrandt Bugatti - the artist behind the rearing elephant hood ornament that adorned the legendary Bugatti Royale - but the word on the street is that the next special-edition Vitesse will pay tribute to one Elisabeth Junek.
Also known as Eliška Junková, she was one of the earliest and most renowned of female racing drivers at the dawn of motorsport. She would often accompany her banker/gentleman-racer husband Cenek Junek on his motoring exploits in their Bugatti Type 35B and would sometimes take the wheel herself. Her most famous race was the 1928 Targa Florio, which she led until the final lap before mechanical troubles dropped her down to fifth place - but still ahead of Tazio Nuvolari.

The legend lives on in Bugatti Black Bess promo clip

To this year's Beijing Motor Show, Bugatti showed up with a special Veyron called Black Bess. It's the fifth in a series of six Legend editions that pay homage to a figure from the Alsatian marque's considerable history - in this case legendary French aviator Roland Garros. Now it's released a promo video showing off the stunning (if mechanically unaltered) black Vitesse roadster.
Not that Bugatti will need any help selling the Black Bess edition, of which only three will be made. Despite their $3 million price tags, Bugatti has sold every one of the previous four Legend runs, helping it move those last examples of the legendary Veyron before it can move on to the next chapter in its history.
Like any other Vitesse, the Black Bess edition packs a 6.0-liter, quad-turbo W16 engine driving 1,184 horsepower to all four wheels. What sets this special edition apart is the lustrous black paint, 24-carat gold accents and uniquely decorated cream leather interior with historic story-boards of classic Bugatti T18 and airplanes on the door panels. All of which may strike you as rather silly, but makes for a rather stunning vehicle highlighted in the video below.

Rembrandt signs off on the latest special edition Bugatti Vitesse

Remember when the Bugatti Veyron first came out? You'll have to go back the better part of a decade to 2005. People were taken aback by the million-dollar asking price. But now there are plenty of cars with price tags in the seven-figure range.
Pagani gets that much for the Huayra, as does McLaren for the P1 and Ferrari for LaFerrari. Aston Martin charged seven digits for the One-77, Hennessey charges that much for the Lotus-based Venom GT, Zenvo does for the ST1 and you can bet SSC will charge at least as much for the Tuatara. Suddenly the notion of a million-dollar supercar doesn't seem so absurd, does it?
$3 million - now that's another story, but that's just what Bugatti gets for the latest special edition Veyron you see here. The price for the "basic" Veyron inflated over the years, of course, and then went up with each iteration. The Grand Sport kicked it up a notch when it blew the roof off. The Super Sport that much more when it upped the power and the speed. Bugatti got that much more when it combined the best attributes of both to make the Vitesse roadster, and squeezes out just an extra little bit for each edition of its Legends series.