When Pierre Veyron, together with team principal and co-driver Jean-Pierre Wimille, won the 1939 24 Heures du Mans, no one realized then just what far-reaching implications it had.

59 years later, Volkswagen, under Chairman Ferdinand Piech, acquired the Bugatti brand and set in motion one of the most audacious automotive project ever. Piech, who incidentally was the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche – the late patriarch of the Porsche clan – authorized the development of a prototype vehicle that will be the fastest road production car ever; it will be named the Bugatti Veyron.

After a turbulent gestation period that was riddled with cost overruns, production delays and mechanical setbacks, the first Veyron came off the production line in 2006. Piech decided then they would produce only 300 of these machines and another 150 of the Grand Sports variant.

So you’re probably wondering how many of the breathtakingly gorgeous Veyrons have been sold since then? As of last year, they have cleared an incredible 250 units, with each retailing between $1.3 to $2.1 million dollars.

Is any car worth that much? Let’s take a closer look at the latest incarnation of this legendary car.

The 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16 engine generates over 1000 horsepower and 922 lb/ft torque. To put that into perspective, it’s the equivalent of almost nine Toyota Prius, or about five Chevy Impala. Are you starting to get the picture?

Next, this four-wheel drive, 7-speed transmission marvel has a top speed of 253 mph and can go from 0-60mph in 2.5 seconds flat. It consumes a gallon of fuel every 3 to 11 miles, depending how hard you work the engine and with the 26-gallon tank, you should expect an empty tank every hour or so. That rules out a nice cross-country drive, unless of course you’re in Germany, where the autobahn has rest stops every 34 miles. The 4.5-meter, sturdy aluminum and carbon fiber body are mainly to blame for this phenomenal fuel-guzzling capacity; it weighs 4300 pounds, almost 50% more than a Boxster!

The verdict: Driving this ten radiator beast is perfection personified, combining unsurpassed strength and grace, where the lightest touch of the accelerator unleashes pure animalistic spirit out of its aluminum flesh; it’s crack on wheels, it’s sex with a stranger on a dark stormy night with Bernstein’s Beethoven Ninth Symphony playing at the back– or so I’ve heard.

After I posted my list of the greatest TV cars of all time, an alert reader asked, “What about the greatest movie cars of all time?”  As I live to serve, I present here my comprehensive list of the greatest cars from the history of movies:

The Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit.

That’s it.

The black and gold, phoenix-adorned, T-topped muscle car stands alone in my mind as THE most iconic car in cinema history.  That Trans Am goes beyond cinematic significance.  It is really emblematic of the 70s culture.

Since the list is so short, I’ll shout out two honorable mentions:

The Batmobile.

No, you didn’t mis-count.  I’m giving props to the Batmobile from the 1989 Batman film that starred Michael Keaton as well as the newer, Batman Begins Batmobile.  The former was a modern re-imagining of a classic that helped to move the franchise away from the cheese whiz 6′s version of the character.  The latter was a vision of the kind of car that Batman really would drive.  Basically a tank on wheels, the new Batmobile (somewhat derisively nicknamed the “Batmo-tank” by fans) was a no-nonsense, all-business engine of destruction worthy of a Dark Knight.

Have I missed anything?  Honestly, I can’t think of any other really GREAT cars from movies.  The nigh-indestructable custom built armored car from Death Race was pretty darn cool, but since only about six people actually saw the movie, I don’t think we can give it too much credit.

Drop me an email if you can think of any other cars worthy of being immortalized on the list of the greatest movie cars of all time.  If you make a compelling enough case, I may have to release an amended list.  But for now, Smokey and the Bandit’s Trans Am stands alone.

Throughout the years, TV has brought us some shows with great cars. Here are a few of the very best.

#6 The Batmobile.  The open cockpit, the parachutes instead of brakes, the superfluous smoke stacks – this car screamed “Mysterious Dark Knight Detective”.

#5 Starsky and Hutch’s Gran Torino.  Fast, cool, virtually indestructible, and a real chick magnet, this car was all the rage from 1975 though 1979.

#4 The truck from BJ and the Bear.  I think it was a Kenworth K100.  Whatever it was, it was awesome.  To be fair, the truck itself was nothing special, but  it was a show about a guy who drove around with a bunch of super-hot trucker babes and a monkey.  What’s not to love about that?

#3 The General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard.  Never did a Dodge Charger look any finer than when the Duke boys welded her doors shut, painted her bright orange, and put a huge confederate flag across the top.  It didn’t hurt any that where the General Lee was, Daisy Duke couldn’t be far behind.  How the Dukes found so many ramps spread around Hazzard County I’ll never know, but the General Lee got air off every one of them.  I personally refused to use the doors on my dad’s 1976 Chevy Nova for six months because I wanted to be like the Dukes.

#2 The Mach 5 from Speed Racer.  I know it isn’t a real car, but I don’t care.  This is my list, and the Mach 5 was awesome.  It may be just a cartoon, but how many real cars had extending buzz saws, robot pigeons, and jump jacks at the push of a button?

#1 KITT from Knight Rider.  KITT could do just about anything.  He could talk.  He was bulletproof.  He could drive himself, run silently, and even helped David come up with creative plans for stopping the bad guys.  Plus, it was just so cool when he’d turn around and back up the ramps onto that big truck at 70 mph. The Knight Industries Two Thousand was hands down the coolest automobile ever featured on television.  Even if you did have to put up with David Hasselhoff to see it.

Did I miss anything?

Across desolate terrain a rumbling vehicle speeds forward. The exterior body is smooth, and futuristic adorned with a red and silver matte finish. It looks as if the vehicle were modeled after some sort of space sci-fi craft.

Does this vehicle exist?

The answer is yes.

The Italian automobile company Fornasari, known for its rather strange model productions, has designed a very unique racing buggy. It was structured to withstand any type of condition, man-made or natural, and bridge the gap between true all-terrain vehicles and average consumers. Most similar vehicles are only available to professional organizations or certain military operations.

To further allow the average consumer a wider array of options, the buggy will be available in two separate models. One model is simply a basic, stripped down, version, and the other is a high-performance, tuned up, model.

Nothing on the specs of the basic model have been released as of yet. However, the high-performance model will include a 610 horsepower, 7.0 liter, V8 engine. The buggy itself can go from 0-60 mph in just under 3.8 seconds.

Both models include a unique body structure mirroring a B-2 stealth bomber, only with different colors. The buggy also features a tubular chassis with triangulated suspensions for increased absorption and an integrated Chevy power plant.

No word as of yet on a release date, but early images prove that this thing is a beast.

If you wanna trek off-road in style, get one of these bad boys.