Bugatti Veyron Sighting: $1.5 Million Car Parked at Fashion Square Mall Turns Heads

We thought we were fortunate just to eat at the Yardhouse last night. But when we stepped outside after dinner, we were humbled (to say the least) by the sight of a $1.5 million sports car.

Before we even noticed the car, though, we saw a small crowd of folks gawking and taking camera-phone pictures of something. They weren't interested in the gorgeous pair of black of four-door sedans, a Rolls Royce and a Maserati, that we'd seen going into the Scottsdale eatery at Fashion Square Mall.

This was something even more remarkable: a wingless starship that the venerable Italian automaker Bugatti calls the Veyron.

A young woman taking pictures of the beetle-like car seemed nearly on the verge of tears as she told us about the estimated price and 1,001-horsepower engine. A bit of Wiki'ing later proved she knew her stuff (or, more likely, had Googled the info before we saw her).

With just a handle of cars like these in the world, other recent mentions on the Internet of a Veyron in Phoenix probably refer to the same vehicle. A valet dude told us the Veyron's owner is just an "average guy" -- the dude stops mid-sentence to correct himself: "average" as in not famous -- who owns several ultra-expensive cars.

Can there be any excuse for such an extravagance, especially in the depths of a damnable recession?

Who knows? But we and other dreamers enjoyed the show.