2012 Bugatti Veyron on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Bugatti files for Rembrandt patent

Though increasingly uncommon today, back in the day every automaker had a hood ornament. Bugatti's was an elephant standing up on its hind legs with its trunk extended into the sky. It capped the nose on the famous Bugatti Type 41 Royale, and it was designed by Rembrandt.
No, not the famous Dutch artist, but Rembrandt Bugatti - the younger brother of carmaker Ettore Bugatti who was named after the painter.
So why do we mention this, you ask? Because one of our readers just alerted us to a patent application with the European Union's Office for Hamonization in the Internal Market. It was filed by Audi's intellectual property office on behalf of its sister company and encompasses the name Rembrandt Bugatti.

Bugatti to replace outgoing Veyron with new Chiron

With around a dozen new units left up for grabs, the Bugatti Veyron is near the end of its production cycle. For its part, Bugatti is planning to replace it with another hypercar, and while it's surely already under development, lips in Molsheim remain tightly sealed until the last Veyron leaves the factory. In the meantime, though, we've got some clues to go by. And the latest comes courtesy of Car and Driver.
According to emerging intel, the Veyron's successor will wear the name Chiron. The name belongs not only a mythological Greek centaur but also to one of the most successful racing drivers of Bugatti's heyday - certainly one of the most prominent not to have been featured in the company's recent Legend series. His name did, however, adorn the Bugatti 18/3 Chiron (pictured above), one of the concepts from the late 90s that paved the way for the Veyron's arrival.
Aside from the name, there are precious few details to go by, but we can expect it to be powered by the company's 8.0-liter W16 engine, unnaturally aspirated and with a likely hybrid boost. Look for even more staggering performance than the Veyron's, with nimbler handling thanks to lighter-weight construction.

Bugatti Type 35 reborn as a sumptuous retro-styled roadster

German engineering and design firm Uedelhoven Studios has reimagined the Bugatti Type 35 as a modern roadster. It's visibly inspired by the original model, but it's lower, sleeker, and made largely with carbon fiber. Uedelhoven Studios isn't a household name, even in enthusiast circles, but it has helped create numerous concept cars including the 2020 Hyundai Prophecy, the 2019 Hyundai 45, and the 2019 Audi AI:Me. It explained that its designers began brainstorming ways to bring the Type 35 into the 21st century in 2015, though it's unclear whether Bugatti was involved in the project. We didn't see it when we went behind the scenes in its design studio to discover some of the unbuilt models it developed in the 2000s and the 2010s, including a V8-powered coupe. Called Type 35 D, a designation never used by Bugatti, the roadster is instantly recognizable as a follow-up to the successful race car thanks in part to a horseshoe-shaped grille surrounded by a thick chrome frame, a tapered body and light blue paint. The suspension system's components and the wheels are fully exposed, like on the original model, but Uedelhoven added fatter tires and a sizeable air diffuser that's wider than the body. Peeking inside reveals wood trim on the steering wheel and the gear selector, leather upholstery, and a copious amount of carbon fiber. The center console is loosely inspired by the one fitted to Bugatti's current-day models, like the Chiron, with round instruments (including a digital gear indicator). It looks like there's a screen on the dashboard, too, which strongly suggests the cabin isn't as closely linked to Bugatti's heritage as the body. What's under the hood hasn't been revealed. We think the front end looks a little too narrow to house Bugatti's thunderous 8.0-liter W16 engine and its four turbos. Released in 1924, the original Type 35 was powered by a 2.0-liter straight-eight engine tuned to develop about 90 horsepower, a magnificent amount at the time. "This was a project initiated by Walter de Silva for Volkswagen Konzern Design in 2015 and constructed at the Uedelhoven Studios. The Bugatti Type 35 D was purely a concept car to see what was possible with the brand. The team behind it consisted of various Volkswagen Group designers, including, Alessandro Dambrosio, Stefan Sielaff, Tancredi de Aguilar and Klaus Suttner," a spokesperson for da Silva's design studio told Autoblog.