Bugatti reveals unique Chiron Profilée
A stunning one-off is your last chance to buy a Chiron - here are all the details
Remember the Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport? A special car even by Bugatti standards, it was intended to make the Chiron more rewarding to drive, with shorter ratios, magnesium wheels, less weight, firmer springs, more negative camber on the front axle and Michelin Cup 2R tyres on each car. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Bugatti customers loved it. But there were also a few who wanted the ability of a Pur Sport in a more discreet - it’s all relative for Chirons - package, a Chiron Touring if you will. Bugatti were going to make some, called the Profilée, a model ‘maintaining the elegance of models like Chiron or Chiron Sport’ as well as some Pur Sport fairy dust. Such was the popularity of the regular PS, however, that there simply wasn’t space in the 500-unit Chiron production run for all those Profilées to be made. Meaning that only one was ever built...
It's easy to see why buyers were keen on the idea of a Pur Sport with a bit less Sport, as this really is a stunning Chiron. Perhaps the most noticeable difference is the replacement of the huge, fixed rear wing with a subtler spoiler integrated into the rear deck. It’s said to be a nod to early Bugattis like the Type 46 and Type 50, ‘which also carried the elegant flick in their tail’.
Additional bits that mark the Profilée out include the chunkier intakes and revised front end from the Pur Sport, unique wheels and an interior featuring a woven leather dashboard. Because of course. Said to be comprised of more than 2,500m of leather strips, the colours are Gris Rafale and Deep Blue. Speaking of which, the exterior paint is unique to this model as well, with no other Chiron ever having been made in Argent Atlantique with a carbon lower section tinted Bugatti Bleu Royal. The ‘Le Patron’ shade for the wheels has been created to match the carbon tint. Even for a Bugatti, it’s spectacular.
Combine those changes with a lot of Pur Sport influence underneath and it’s easy to understand the enthusiasm. Bugatti says the springs are 10 per cent stiffer than the Chiron Sport, the rear axle has 50 per cent more negative camber and its gear ratios are 15 per cent shorter, meaning it’s not quite as extreme as the full-fat Pur Sport. Look really closely and you’ll see this car is on a regular Cup 2 tyre rather than the Cup 2R, too.
Really, though, Bugattis are operating on another plane - this more relaxed Pur Sport will reach 62mph in 2.3 seconds and 124mph in 5.5. With ratios not as close, top speed for the Profilée is 236mph, against 217mph for the sprint geared Pur Sport. Moreover, it's a fully type-approved Chiron, too, not a pre-production mule used for testing and discarded, now only fit for a museum.
As Bugatti President Christophe Piochon puts it: “We knew what we had created was too beautiful to be hidden away. It is - in every sense - a true Bugatti and a one-of-a-kind piece of collectible automotive history. And we really wanted to give a fair chance to any devotee of the Bugatti brand - customers or non-customers - to acquire this very unique piece and therefore decided to partner with RM Sotheby’s to auction it.” That auction will take place on February 1st in Paris, with a percentage of proceeds going to charity. Don’t be surprised if a new record is set…
That being said, given that i’m not a target customer - who cares, and perhaps thank goodness; perhaps if it appealed more to folks like me, it would appeal less to the folks needed to make it a viable product.
That being said, given that i’m not a target customer - who cares, and perhaps thank goodness; perhaps if it appealed more to folks like me, it would appeal less to the folks needed to make it a viable product.
I recall an EVO test of the Veyron many years ago in which Harry Metcalfe was following the Veyron in an Enzo & the road became increasing twisty as they ascended into the mountains. What floored him was, he expected the Enzo to come into its element on those roads while the heavy Veyron would increasing become a fish out of water. What he found was that the Veyron started pulling away & even braking the Enzo under ABS & with the traction control light flashing on corner exit, the the two tonne Veyron just disappeared into the distance.
...I suppose performance alone is seldom a reason to connect with a car.
Those may or may not appeal to any particular person, but I struggle to see why people don't get the appeal of the Chiron, even if it isn't for them. On pretty much every metric going ,it turns the volume up to 11. There would be space for one in my supercar garage alongside an EB110 for sure.
It's an absolutely amazing piece of engineering but feels soulless to me. Feels like it, along with the Veyron and the other cars who were chasing the 250+ and 300+ milestones have transcended the hypercar status though. There needs to be a new word.
It is something that, to me, defines the word 'effortless' as it 100% successfully straddles the extreme end of the performance scale but also works as an actual, livable, comfortable and reliable, day-to-day car with no crazy compromises (not more than any other two-door/two-seat coupe anyway). Having seen them in person many times on the road now it's not even that big - the packaging of the W16 is amazing considering what it needs to work properly!
Yes, the Rimac Nevera and its descendants will eventually outdo it (and as Mate now will be running Bugatti going forward, that is inevitable) but as a testament to ICE'd cars, it really is the very pinnacle of Dr Piech's vision of the ultimate performance GT and there will never be anything remotely like it ever again.
I salute all of those involved in its creation - what a truly astonishing machine.
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