For a car that doesn’t really exist and may never hit the market, Bugatti’s Galibier 16C has received an amazing amount of coverage in the media. Since its unveiling as a concept in 2009, the car has been the subjected to more rumor, speculation and innuendo than any other concept vehicle we can name.

Given the car’s extraordinary performance potential and matching price, it’s easy to understand the public’s fascination with the car. If built, it will reportedly have a minimum of 1,000 horsepower and will likely exceed the Veyron’s $1.7 million price of admission.

And therein lies the problem. While the Veyron is an extraordinary car, and perhaps the pinnacle of automotive engineering to date, it’s no more affordable to operate and maintain than a luxury aircraft. For those lucky enough to own a Veyron, driving the car is a reward, to be shared only with the most intimate of friends.

Does the world need a sedan that’s likely to be more costly than the Veyron to operate? Are there enough buyers who need to carry three passengers at speeds up to 200 miles per hour, operating costs be damned? Those are the questions that the Volkswagen group must answer before green-lighting the Galibier for production.

Word is that the current version of the concept, seen here, simply isn’t over-the-top enough. If that’s the case, we wonder what else the car needs and what the ultimate end product will be like.