At the Frankfurt Auto Show this month Bugatti will unveil a Vision Gran Turismo virtual racer concept said to share the new design language used to shape the automaker’s replacement for the Veyron supercar, an even faster model thought to be labeled a Chiron. The Chiron name comes from pioneering Bugatti racing driver Louis Chiron and was previously used for a concept unveiled in the late ‘90s that previewed the Veyron.

This new supercar will be similar in size, shape and ethos to the Veyron but will benefit from more power, less weight and improved handling. Development has been years in the making but we could be very close to seeing the covers finally come off.

According to CAR, the Veyron successor will make its world debut at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show taking place next March. The design, apparently, has already been finalized as potential customers were given a preview at the recent Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and some were even been invited to the factory in Molsheim, France to get a good look as well as a chance to place an early deposit.

Bugatti Veyron #001

Bugatti Veyron #001

The British publication also reports that the new supercar will be significantly more expensive than the original Veyron. The starting price is reported to be 2.2 million euros (approximately $2.47 million) which is close to what the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse was going for towards the end of the car’s decade-long production run. The Veyron had a price tag of ‘just’ 1.3 million euros ($1.46 million) when it was launched.

The production run is thought to be 500 cars in total, up on the 450 Veyrons built.

One thing we know is that the car will feature an uprated version of the Veyron’s quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W-16, likely with direct fuel injection, cylinder deactivation and electric-aided turbos. It’s possible Bugatti will offer two levels of performance this time around, though. Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn recently hinted that an expected hybrid system on the Veyron successor will be reserved for a high-performance variant, with the standard model to be powered exclusively by an internal combustion engine.

Bugatti Veyron #001

Bugatti Veyron #001

Peak output of the hybrid variant is expected to top 1,500 horsepower, which will allow the Veyron successor to accelerate from 0-60 mph in about 2.3 seconds, down from 2.5 seconds in the 1,184-hp Veyron Super Sport. Top speed, meanwhile, is thought to be as high as 288 mph, or about 20 mph faster than the land speed record-holding Veyron Super Sport.

As for the detractors that criticize Bugatti’s focus on top speed, note that the Veyron’s greatness doesn’t lie solely in the fact that it can reach speeds in excess of 250 mph. The Veyron is a marvel because of its engineering, craftsmanship and ease in which it can reach such insane speeds all while being as docile behind the wheel as a humble Golf.

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