Oof: one-of-one Bugatti Brouillard revealed
Okay, it's an homage to a horse and literally means 'fog' - but would you just look at it?
Given how bold most regular Bugatti commissions turn out, from the Chiron Super Sport L’Ultime to Edition Noire Sportive, it’s hard to imagine there’s much more call for additional personalisation. What the customer wants, the customer gets, on Planet Bugatti. But it turns out that there’s scope for even more customisation when it comes to 16-cylinder supercars, and therefore Programme Solitaire has been launched.
Nothing to do with everyone’s favourite card game, sadly. Instead Project Solitaire is a level above ‘even the highly bespoke world of Bugatti Sur Mesure’, a place most of us probably thought didn’t even exist - though clearly there was demand for. It’s said to hark back to Bugatti’s glorious coachbuilding days of the early 20th century and cars like the Type 57 chassis, with its array of in-house bodies. There will be a maximum of two Project Solitaire cars each year, always built from existing Bugatti powertrains and chassis, and this is the first: Brouillard.
That’s one thing Solitaire gets you that Sur Mesure wouldn’t, at least - the opportunity to name your own Bugatti. For those that don’t know their Bugatti history, Brouillard was Ettore’s favourite horse way back when, a nag of ‘speed, beauty, and unparalleled grace’. So it makes sense to name a 1,600hp one-off Mistral coupe after such a beast.
It says something of the design that the Brouillard looks like the Mistral should have been a hardtop all the time; you might even say it’s a smarter-looking supercar than the Roadster, hunkered down on its wheels and roof gradually tapering. Design Director Frank Heyl said: “Here, the aesthetics of this car abstain from sharp lines in favour of more reflection-based surfaces that mimic a kind of athletic muscle, like a trained horse. It's heavily focused on sculptural surfaces and organic shapes, as the vision of a tendon underneath the skin. Enormous power and complexity, hidden by a veil of dignified simplicity."
To ensure this Project Solitaire commission isn’t mistaken for a common-or-garden Bugatti, there’s slabs of stunning green-tinted carbon fibre throughout; it’s also not merely a retrimmed and resprayed Mistral, as this build gets its own exhaust packaging (note the stacked exhaust tips), a fixed rear ducktail where the spoiler is active usually and a new design of rear diffuser also. Bugatti suggests, in fact, that this represents the ‘culmination of W16 platform development.’
Entirely unsurprisingly for a one-off car built for a collector also keen on Carlo Bugatti’s furniture and Rembrandt Bugatti’s sculptures, there are gorgeous details aplenty throughout the Brouillard. And lots of horsey bits. Check out the central spine that runs all the way across the car, from badge to bum, through a glass roof that ‘creates a cathedral-like experience’ for those onboard to worship the 8.0-litre. Even by lofty Bugatti standards, it’s a pretty spectacular thing.
The interior is… green. Really green. There’s more of the very special carbon, custom fabrics from Paris, plus horses where you’d expect them (embroidered in the door cards) and where you’d probably not (see the glass insert in the aluminium gear shifter). There seems little danger of any other Project Solitaire Bugatti looking anything like this one, which will probably be as important to the client as anything else.
Bugatti MD Hendrik Malinowski said: "The Programme Solitaire allows us to authentically explore the unique visions of our clients, giving us more flexibility to explore different interpretations of long-established Bugatti design elements. On a one-of-one, we have much more freedom in the reinterpretation of what a Bugatti is, while maintaining the same absolute dedication to perfection in every detail; there will be no compromise to performance, quality or design. Each precious Solitaire will be unique and peerless, offering a level of attention to detail not found in even the most exclusive automotive creations.”
Your guess is as good as ours as to how many millions the Brouillard might have cost. It’ll be on display in California later this month, along with however many other exotics worth the GDP of small nations. Because that’s Monterey Car Week. And you can expect another Solitaire build there next year. And the year after that. And the year aft..
- Bugatti reveals ‘incomparable’ 1,800hp Tourbillon
- Bugatti W16 Mistral sets new open-top speed record
How rich do you have to be to want to commission a one-off Bugatti?!
You'd never be able to drive it anywhere either, for fear of damaging it. Clearly a problem for your staff to deal with.
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