Bugatti is finally bidding goodbye to the W16 engine after two decades with a striking new one-off hypercar that is set to be the most expensive car the French company has yet built.
Based on the Mistral speedster but with a fixed glass roof in place of that car’s open top, the Brouillard – French for ‘mist’ – will be the last new standalone Bugatti model to use the firm’s W16.
All future creations are set to be based on the Tourbillon, which uses a 1775bhp plug-in hybrid powertrain centred around a Cosworth-designed V16.
The Brouillard is due to be delivered in 2027 as the first in a line of “hyper-exclusive” one-offs from Bugatti’s new Solitaire coachbuilding division, which design chief Frank Heyl said will go much further than the existing Sur Mesure personalisation programme by creating “full, custom-made, geometrically unique cars”.
In this respect Solitaire will be similar to Bentley’s Mulliner division, which created the Continental-based Batur and Bacalar limited editions, or the Bespoke arm of Rolls-Royce, which is responsible for the £20 million-plus Droptail.
The popularity of the existing Sur Mesure offering has proved so popular that “there is nearly no new car that isn’t individualised in some way,” according to Heyl, who added there is now “huge demand” from Bugatti’s most well-heeled customers for even greater individuality. The Brouillard shows how Solitaire – based at Bugatti’s new global design HQ in Berlin – can cater to that demand.
“There’s not a single panel on the car that is the same as on the Mistral,” said Heyl, adding that the blank-sheet approach to designing Solitaire commissions will “enable us to go very specific” in meeting customer wishes.
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I will damn it with faint praise by saying, it looks better than some look-at-me-I'm-rich one-off specials.
To me, there's an element of the Emperor's new clothes about these commissions.
Luxury car makers are very good at flattering their customers' egos, promising them something totally bespoke and praising their eye for design and desire to be unconventional.
Do I know how to design a hypercar? No. Would that change if I had £100m? No. I have taste, and would like a wide choice of paint and trim options, but the rest is paying huge sums of money for diminishing returns.
It looks amazing but I'd like to see it driven down my High street and not leave lots of underbody bit on the road..