A new one-off Chiron-based Bugatti inspired by the company’s iconic Type 57 Atlantic may have just wrested away the title of the world’s most expensive new car.
At 11 million Euro – that’s $16.6 million, or US$12.45 million – before taxes, La Voiture Noire’s closest rival is the bespoke Rolls-Royce Sweptail, rumoured to have cost about US$13 million, though that’s not been confirmed.
What does that sort of coin net you exactly? In the case of this two-seater, anyway, let’s start with the quad-turbo W-16 engine delivering about 1,479 horsepower. It’s nestled inside a carbon-fibre body dipped in what looks to be fifty coats of the deepest black fathomable; and topped off with a host of throwback cues linking it to its pre-war forebear—for example, a row of six exhaust outlets under the rear bumper.
Bugatti says this Atlantic homage pays tribute to the company’s 110th anniversary; and, curiously, refers to it not as a hyper sports car like it does the Chiron, but as a grand tourer meant for covering great distances.
And who exactly is the lucky owner of such a machine? Bugatti’s official line is that they’re simply an “enthusiast.” But the word going around is that the customer is none other than Ferdinand Piech, the former chair of Volkswagen who helped revive the Bugatti brand itself in 1998 — and spurred the development of that W-16 engine.
Whoever it is, we do hope they put its grand touring capabilities to use so we have the chance to see the thing every so often.