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One-off Bugatti Chiron Super Sport Golden Era features hand-drawn sketches

Although the Bugatti Chiron is sold out, the French brand still has several examples left to build before it can close this chapter of its history. It unveiled a Chiron Super Sport that took two years to create and that stands out as one of the most difficult projects it has ever taken on. Called the Chiron Super Sport Golden Era, the big coupe was designed jointly by Bugatti and the anonymous collector who commissioned it — the buyer played a significant role in shaping this one-off. The customer wanted to celebrate the brand's history, so the design team that was led by Achim Anscheidt until he retired in July 2023 came up with a one-of-a-kind livery that consists of 45 sketches of cars, planes, symbols, and even buildings from Bugatti's past. There's a catch: every one of these sketches needed to be drawn on the car by hand. "The implementation may sound quite straight-forward, but achieving a perfect finish, and one that would last the test of time, took more patience and craftsmanship than you could ever imagine," Anscheidt explained. Designers assigned each side of the car its own facet of Bugatti's history. The passenger's side highlights early cars, like the Type 41 Royale and the Type 57 SC Atlantic. The driver's side focuses on newer models, including the EB110, the Veyron, and the one-off La Voiture Noire. With the layout finalized, Bugatti turned its attention to the color. Designers painted the front end in Nocturne Black, and this color fades into a shade of gold called Dore (which means "golden" in French). Then came the hard part: putting it all together. "It was very clear to us from the beginning that we can only achieve an authentic finish for these sketches – and at Bugatti authenticity is paramount – if we actually used the pencils that we use for sketching on paper – anything else would result in something looking fake or low in quality," Anscheidt said. All told, the drawing process took over 400 hours of work. The interior received a similar (but not quite as labor-intensive) treatment. The outline of three Bugatti models is painted directly onto each door panel, "Golden Era" is stitched onto each headrest, and a "One of One" logo appears on the center console. The era shown on each side of the car is written on the door sills to add a finishing touch to the look. Bugatti will deliver the Chiron Super Sport Golden Era to its new owner during Monterey Car Week. Related video:

Bugatti Chiron Super Sport revealed as a long-tail, high-speed grand tourer

Bugatti is done setting speed records, but it's proud of what it accomplished in the years it spent chasing the crown. It channeled some of the lessons it learned into a new, high-speed-focused Chiron variant called Super Sport. While the Super Sport is instantly recognizable as a member of the Chiron family, it wears a more streamlined body than other variants (like the handling-focused Chiron Pur Sport) characterized by a redesigned front splitter, air curtains on either side of the front bumper, and a rear end that has been extended by nearly 10 inches. The rear air diffuser has a new look, too. These changes improve aerodynamic efficiency while creating the high level of downforce required to keep the Chiron firmly planted to the ground at the triple-digit speeds it's designed to reach. Even the smaller tweaks seen on the Super Sport weren't made strictly in the name of design. Bugatti explained the nine holes above each front wheel create downforce by releasing air pressure from the wheel wells. On a secondary level, they also create a visual link between the EB110 (which also wore the Super Sport designation) and the limited-edition Centodieci. Model-specific five-spoke wheels add a finishing touch to the function-over-form design.  Bugatti developed the Super Sport as a grand tourer, so giving it a stripped-out, race car-like interior was out of the question. The cabin blends timeless materials, like leather and aluminum, with carbon fiber components that hint at the car's lightweight construction. Buyers can customize nearly everything inside, including the upholstery. Power for the Super Sport comes from Bugatti's prestigious W16 engine, an 8.0-liter unit fitted with four turbos. It develops 1,577 horsepower and 1,180 pound-feet of torque in this application. Engineers made changes to the turbos, to the engine oil pump, and to the cylinder head in order to increase the 16-cylinder's redline to 7,100 rpm (a 300-rpm bump) and to make the full torque output available across a much broader spectrum. The engine still spins the four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, though the seventh gear is longer.  Helped by a 50-pound weight reduction, the Super Sport takes 5.8 seconds to reach 124 mph (200 kph) from a stop. Keep it floored, and the speedometer shows 186 mph (300 kph) in 12.1 seconds. Its top speed lies in the vicinity of 273 mph.

Limited-edition Bugatti Chiron Sport bridges the gap between cars and planes

Bugatti is highlighting the little-known link between some of its earliest race cars and aviation with a limited-edition variant of the Chiron Sport named Les Legendes du Ciel. Although it doesn't gain wings and an air-cooled radial engine, the model features several design tweaks made to catch the eye of vintage car and airplane buffs alike. "Many successful Bugatti racing drivers, such as Albert Divo, Robert Benoist and Bartolomeo ‘MeoÂ’ Costantini, flew for the French Air Force. It is therefore almost an obligation for us today to pay tribute to the legends of that time and dedicate a special edition to them," explained company boss Stephan Winkelmann in a statement.  Starting with a Chiron Sport, stylists painted the body in a specific shade called Gris Serpent (which means "snake gray" in French) that's inspired by the color of some of the planes that flew during the 1920s. For contrast, they added a white stripe that stretches from the grille to the rear wing, and they painted the front part of each rocket panel blue, white and red. Exposed carbon fiber accents add a finishing touch to the overall design. Look closely at the front end, and you'll notice another edition-specific touch. Instead of mesh, the grille's insert is made with laser-cut strips of aluminum arranged to look like a group of planes flying in a formation.  Brown leather upholstery dominates the cabin, and aluminum trim pieces create another visual link between the Les Legendes du Ciel and planes built over a century ago. Each door panel gains a hand-sketched image showing a Bugatti Type 13 racing against a Nieuport 17 biplane. Released in 1910, the Type 13 was the first car to wear the Bugatti name. Launched in 1916, the 17 was a single-seater appreciated for its speed and reliability. Power for the Les Legendes du Ciel comes from a quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 engine, which produces 1,500 horsepower and 1,180 pound-feet of torque. It spins the four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission linked to steering wheel-mounted shift paddles, and it sends the Chiron to a top speed that's electronically limited to 261 mph. In other words, it's faster than some of the planes it pays tribute to. Bugatti will make 20 units of the Chiron Sport Les Legendes du Ciel, and pricing starts at 2.88 million euros, a figure that represents $3.41 million at the current conversion rate. It sounds like build slots are still available.