The most recent news on a new Bugatti supercar should jump-start your heart. How about a 987-hp engine with a top speed of 237 mph for a heart-thumper?

Auto writer Ray Hutton in a Car and Driver magazine piece brings us up to date on the latest Bugatti venture. Late in 2003, Thomas Bscher was named president of Bugatti. This is a sideline for Bscher, a former race car driver and now a successful banker. It is said he commutes from Cologne to Frankfurt driving his McLaren 200 mph on the Autobahn.

This trashed my "normal" drive-to-work commute speed of 120 mph when I worked for Opel in Germany.

A few more details on the new Bugatti, as related by reporter Hutton: "The 8.0-liter engine is unique to Bugatti but is, in effect, a doubled-up Volkswagen V-8 -- that is, two narrow-angle V-8s mounted at 90 degrees to each other and driving a common crankshaft. ... The engine develops its maximum power at 6,000 rpm.

"One problem was overcome by Michelin's producing a road tire capable of going 250 mph."

Incidentally, if you care to drive over 237 mph, "You have to prepare the car by stopping and turning a special key on the dashboard."

Oh, yes, the sticker price is $1.3 million, but remember that is the estimated price.

George Spaulding is a retired General Motors executive and executive-in-residence emeritus at the School of Business and Economics at the College of Charleston.