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Sounds like Bugatti is about to debut a 57 SC Atlantic-inspired design

In early February, a rumor popped up that Bugatti was bringing an extremely special multi-million-dollar one-off custom to the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. This week, Bugatti put out a teaser on social media that hinted at a new 57 SC Atlantic-inspired design. Could the two be related, or are automotive enthusiasts in for two major surprises? Maybe we've been watching too much "True Detective" and have the itch to put clues together, but a peculiar timeline has begun to take shape surrounding what's to come next for Bugatti. On Feb. 12, we picked up a report from The Supercar Blog that said ex-VW boss Dr. Ferdinand Piech had ordered a one-off Bugatti that cost about $18 million and would debut in Geneva. On Feb. 18, Bugatti began a social campaign that celebrated the 80th birthday of the famed 57 SC Atlantic, highlighting each of the four examples that were built. The Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic is one of the most mystical cars in automotive history and the star in the Hollywood movie OVERDRIVE. To find out more about its real life story, stay tuned! #Overdrive #Bugatti #BugattiAtlantic #Type57SC #BugattiHistory #Bugatti110Ans pic.twitter.com/RRhttBc6mI — Bugatti (@Bugatti) February 18, 2019 On Feb. 24, Bugatti publicly wondered if the design of the 57 SC Atlantic could be reinterpreted in the modern automotive landscape. Jean Bugatti's 57 SC Atlantic cannot be re-created, but what do you think? Can we translate its design language into the 21st century? #Bugatti #BugattiAtlantic #Type57SC #BugattiHistory #Bugatti110Years #Bugatti110Ans #JeanBugatti #BugattiDesign #BugattiDesignLanguage pic.twitter.com/HUKPQAkCUq — Bugatti (@Bugatti) February 24, 2019 And today, Feb. 25, Bugatti posted an interview with Deputy Design Director Etienne Salome in which he added a couple more hints. He starts by saying, "When the team and myself started to design this car," which suggests the Atlantic-inspired car is indeed real. He goes on, referencing Jean Bugatti: "How would he translate the timeless beauty and the elegance of his own private Atlantic onto a modern-day Bugatti?" Bugatti's Deputy Design Director Etienne Salome tells us, what it would need to revive the 57SC Atlantic in the 21st century. #Bugatti #BugattiAtlantic #Type57SC #BugattiHistory #BugattiStory #Bugatti110Years #Bugatti110Ans #JeanBugatti pic.twitter.com/zoHagIElSP — Bugatti (@Bugatti) February 25, 2019 The second piece of information there could be taken literally or figuratively.

Watch a Bugatti Chiron speedometer hit 218 mph

Driving reviews of the $2.5 million Bugatti Chiron supercar are starting to pop up - in fact, here's ours - and Richard Meaden, a former race driver, recently drove the Chiron for Evo in the UK, praising its combination of "civility and savagery." But what fascinated us was the video, large portions of which are simply a view of the speedometer as the Chiron rockets to 351 kph (or 218 mph) in less than 30 seconds. We can only hope that run wasn't on the idyllic English country road glimpsed in the opening and closing shots. The video is mesmerizing to watch. Enjoy. Related video:

Out with the clay, in with the VR: Bugatti's design studio is all digital

Bugatti recently unveiled three limited-edition, multi-million-dollar Chiron derivatives in less than a year, a Herculean task for such a small company. Achim Anscheidt, the head of the firm's design department, told Autoblog maintaining this pace wouldn't have been possible without the use of virtual reality technology. "We have the feeling we don't need clay anymore. With VR, we can do everything on the spot. We can sit next to each other and talk about the car, we can change the wheels, change the color, and sometimes make modifications on the spot," he explained. In comparison, using clay has several disadvantages. It's more difficult to tell how sunlight reflects off the body, for example. It's also more expensive and far more time consuming. "It's only through [VR] that we had the chance to develop the Divo, the La Voiture Noire and the Centodieci in such a rapid amount of time," he affirmed. The team in charge of designing the EB110-inspired Centodieci notably began the project about six months before the car made its public debut at the 2019 edition of the ritzy, champagne-soaked Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance held on California's picturesque Pacific coast. While VR isn't new, the technology wasn't advanced enough to replace clay in a styling studio until about 2016. Anscheidt hasn't looked back; going all-digital reduced the amount of time it takes to design a car by about 40%. This isn't a case of robots replacing humans, either. Bugatti still needs talented designers, and the number of people it assigns to each project hasn't drastically changed, but they now work differently than in the past. View 40 Photos And, the widespread use of VR in Bugatti's design department doesn't mean its cars are no longer drawn by hand. Anscheidt explained every project still starts with a series of sketches that allow designers to explore different directions and identify the one they want to take the car-to-be in. Here again, digitalization plays a substantial role. Early sketches are sometimes done on a tablet rather than on a piece of paper. "Of course, when [deputy design director] Frank Heyl and I go to lunch, we still sketch on napkins," he said with a smile. Knowing how to use 3D-modeling and VR is only one of the skills Anscheidt looks for when hiring new designers.