Bugatti Galibier news - Bugatti Galibier: occasionally with clock - 2009

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Yes, you are looking at a photo of a watch. A clock that become a watch, at least. 

Now, we realise this may be less immediately visually imposing than, say, a 788bhp matte-black E-Class. But this is an important clock. This is the clock from the Bugatti Galibier. It sits within the centre of the dashboard until you arrive at your high society party/polo match/Evil Dictator Society AGM, at which point you simply pop it out and clip it onto your watch strap.

Bugatti has released a bunch of new photos of its four-door, front-engined hypercar, including this detail shot of its watch-clock arrangement. 

Neat though it is, we can’t help wondering whether the sort of person who splashes a million-odd quid on a family car might not wish to stoop to such a compromise on his watch-clock arrangement. The sort of person who splashes a million-odd quid on a family car wants both a full-time watch and a full-time in-car clock, we fear.

To remind you, a few numbers on the Galibier. It’s powered by the Veyron’s 8.0-litre W16 engine, but with the turbos ripped out and replaced by a pair of superchargers. No performance figures have been announced, but it’s expected develop more than 900bhp and run to around 220mph without breaking sweat.

Bugatti says it has not yet decided whether to put the Galibier into production – this concept is currently being shown to potential customers to gauge opinion – but we’d confidently expect it to reach the road by 2013, with production limited to around 300 cars.

If you’re over the excitement of that insane timepiece, take a look at this promotional video for the Galibier. Unless you’re impervious to the dulcet tones of deeply obsequious voiceovers, you might want to turn the sound down…