When Bugatti revealed its upcoming new model, the Divo, at the Paris Auto Show, the sticker price sent shock waves through the auto industry as surely as the car itself did: the cost of the vehicle had been set at $5.6 million.

Fair enough. But a recent listing by a German dealer has the price slightly increased—well, let’s be honest…the word is inflated—from that substantial figure, though: $7.6 million to buy the most extreme Bugatti to ever rage down a mountain road.

Is this a case of price-gouging of the upper crust, as some have opined? A bit of opportunistic manipulation of supply-and-demand principles for what may be the most frisson-inducing driving experience ever devised?

No. The Divo is a rare commodity for auto collectors—the 40 models earmarked for production are already long sold, making the Divo perhaps the first car to ever be considered primarily a collectible investment-grade item pre-production. Some buyers were enthusiasts; others knew a rare gem when they saw it, and went for the future. That makes any attempt to make a buck on such an item fair game.

But the niche economics that have sprung up from the fertile ground of a 40-model only new Bugatti model pale as a source of fascination when one has a look at the car itself. Bugatti calls it the ‘most extreme Bugatti ever’ on their website. Praise from daddy, surely, but this car is a golden boy if ever there was one.