This is the supreme roadster, the Bugatti W16 Mistral. Every Bugatti has had a W16 engine at its core since the Veyron’s debut in 2005. The last road-going W16 was always going to be something special: exclusive, sophisticated, and powerful.
Table of Contents
A Chiron in disguise
“For the final roadgoing appearance of Bugatti’s legendary W16 engine, we knew we had to create a roadster. Well over 40% of all Bugatti vehicles ever created have been open-top in design, establishing a long lineage of performance icons that – to this day – are revered the world over.
In the Chiron era there had, to-date, been no roadster, so the introduction of W16 Mistral continues this legacy, driven by enormous demand from our clients for an all-new way to experience the mighty performance of our iconic engine. The W16 Mistral opens the next chapter in the Bugatti roadster story, inspired by over a century of open top legends.” said Mate Rimac, Bugatti Rimac CEO.
The insignia that should be on an automobile this essential and expressive received much deliberation. The roadster required a name that was more than just a modification of the Chiron; it needed a moniker that represented freedom, elegance, and speed.
The mistral, a strong wind that originates in the Rhône River valley and travels through the posh cities of the Côte d’Azur in southern France before entering the Mediterranean, served as inspiration. And since the engine is so essential to this roadster’s personality, it coexists with Bugatti W16 Mistral, a powerful wind.
Designed to make history
“We know the W16 Mistral will always have significance in the story of Bugatti, marking the last time that perhaps the greatest ever automotive powertrain is used in a roadgoing production car. We, as a design team, felt enormous pressure to deliver styling that immediately conveyed this landmark moment, drawing inspiration from some of the most beautiful roadsters in Bugatti history.” explained Achim Anscheidt, Bugatti Design Director.
The 1934 Bugatti Type 57 Roadster Grand Raid, a sporty roadster that epitomizes tasteful style, would serve as their model. This specific Grand Raid, on exhibit at the Louwman Museum in Den Haag, is distinguished by its twin aerodynamic headrests that flow rearward into the bodywork and a cut-down V-shaped windshield.
It is effortlessly stylish with subdued sportiness. It would make the ideal inspiration for this turning point in the Bugatti saga, finished in a two-tone black and yellow livery.
Warm black with traces of truffle brown and subdued yellow highlights make up the W16 Mistral’s premiere color scheme, which was inspired by the Bugatti Type 57 Roadster Grand Raid. It pays respect to both the renowned coachbuilt body and Ettore Bugatti, who often used the black and yellow color scheme for his own vehicles, particularly the Type 41 Royale.
For fans of the company, it is a classic aesthetic combination.
The V-shaped windscreen of the Grand Raid is preserved in its essence and transformed into a contemporary work of art by the Bugatti W16 Mistral. The W16 Mistral’s curved windshield gives the impression of wrapping over the A-pillars and integrating smoothly into the side windows, giving the car a “visor” look that alluded to its motorsport-level performance.
A feat of engineering in and of itself, the windshield is just curved enough to achieve the rounded visor shape without impairing the driver’s visibility.
The upper edge of the side windows and windshield deliberately curves around the side air intakes. The legendary Bugatti C-line, first seen on the Chiron, has a new three-dimensional character as it flows back below the side glass and shoots through to the front horseshoe grill.
The oil cooler intakes on the side were purposefully set apart from the engine air intakes, which now reside on the roof, directly behind the passengers, in order to maintain a sleek body side section while still allowing for optimal airflow to the W16.
The Type 57 Roadster Grand Raid and the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, the first open-top Bugatti of the contemporary era, are both referenced in the two new roof-mounted engine air vents. W16 Mistral has a completely new personality that is tighter, more forceful, and seems to jump ahead.
A vehicle like the W16 Mistral demands the meticulous application of Bugatti’s “Form Follows Performance” design tenet, with each component conceived not just to establish new standards for beauty, but to also play a part in attaining whole new levels of performance.
The Bugatti W16 Mistral incorporates design in engineering
Since each of the new ram induction air scoops beneath the headrests was built specifically to withstand rigorous rollover testing, they can carry the whole weight of the vehicle in the event of a rollover.
The symphony between the low-down, powerful, rumbling 8-liter displacement intake roar at the throttle on and the blow-off whistle from the four turbochargers at throttle lift is highlighted by this revised intake arrangement, further enhancing the driver’s W16 experience. In the world of automobiles, there is nothing like it in terms of sound.
The Bugatti W16 Mistral incorporates the most recent technological advancements to provide levels of beauty and exhilaration that are unmatched. Advanced composite materials from Bugatti are combined with state-of-the-art titanium and aluminum 3D printing to produce stunning designs with top performance and unwavering dependability.
Engineers were able to create lightweight solutions that would provide optimal handling and performance even in the most difficult circumstances thanks to a thorough investigation of the dynamic stiffness of the W16 Mistral.
Luxurious interior that screams performance
The W16 Mistral’s interior is modeled after the Chiron and has been finely tuned to provide a setting that is at once attractive and opulent while also being practical enough to guarantee that all information is clearly visible at speeds of up to 420 km/h.
The commitment to high-quality materials continues to be a distinguishing feature of Bugatti design, including sophisticated, lightweight titanium, components made of aluminum machined from a solid block, and plush, spot-free leathers. However, there is also a brand-new design that flourishes in this last hurrah for the W16.
Intricately woven leather that was rigorously tested and created to Bugatti quality standards with the intention of frequent usage over the course of a century is utilized on freshly designed door panels.
The gear shifter, which was machined from a solid block of aluminum, also pays homage to the W16 Mistral’s legendary ancestors by including a touch of wood and an amber inset that contains Rembrandt Bugatti’s renowned “dancing elephant” sculpture. Variations of this sculpture decorated the famed Type 41 Royale, the most opulent roadster ever made, on its bonnet.
The swan song of the mighty W16
“What we also continue with W16 Mistral is a legacy of Bugatti roadsters, each of them incomparable in design, performance and rarity, which stretches right back to the genesis of Bugatti. The Type 40, Type 41 Royale, Type 55 Roadster, Type 57 Roadster Grand Raid that inspired this car, or even the incredible elegance of the Type 57SC Corsica Roadster – Bugatti has always been associated with the purity of open top driving. So even though the legacy of the roadgoing W16 ends with the W16 Mistral, we continue the legacy of the roadster, first established by Ettore Bugatti more than a century ago.” said Mate Rimac, Bugatti Rimac CEO.
The ambitious 12.7-liter straight-eight engine of the Royale was a first-of-its-kind in the world, sitting behind the enormous side-opening hood. The only W16 powertrain in use in cars today, the Bugatti W16 Mistral engine is as ambitious.
In 2013, the 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16 engine in Bugatti’s last roadster, the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse, produced 1,200 hp and broke a world speed record of 254.04 mph (408.84 km/h). The same engine that powered the Chiron Super Sport 300+ to a record-breaking speed of 304.773 mph in 2019 is used in the W16 Mistral, which boasts 1,600 hp.
There can be just one objective in mind: to regain the world record for the quickest roadster.
Already sold out
Only 99 models will be produced, with the Bugatti W16 Mistral price starting at 5 million euros net and delivery starting in 2024. W16 Mistral’s full manufacturing run has already been consumed.
