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Bugatti said to bring an $18M one-off to Geneva

Bugatti already has the limited-edition Chiron Sport "110 Ans Bugatti" on the Geneva Motor Show playlist. The matte-blue coupe celebrates 110 years since Ettore Bugatti's first car, the Type 10. According to several rumors, Bugatti could have something else just as noteworthy alongside. The Supercar Blog reported that the French carmaker will show a one-off model reported to cost 16 million euros, about $18 million at current exchange rates. The buyer has already been chosen, that being one Dr. Ferdinand Piech, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and ex-chairman of the Volkswagen Group. The rumor couldn't be ignored once Kris Singh — managing director of a U.S. investment firm, Lamborghini Veneno owner, and supercar collector — made a post on Instagram the same day as the Supercar Blog post. Next to an image of the 110 Ans Bugatti, Singh wrote, "it will be fun to see this alongside the Divo and the top secret 16 million euro Bugatti one-off that was made exclusively for Dr. Piech." As chairman of the VW Group, Piech fathered the Veyron when he demanded his engineers turn the 2001 Geneva Motor Show concept into a proper production car. After a roaring 14 years, Piech's tenure ended with a whimper when he was ousted in 2015 in an internal battle with Group CEO Martin Winterkorn. A few months after Piech hit the bricks, dieselgate broke. Last year, U.S. prosecutors charged Winterkorn — who remains in Germany — with wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with the emissions scandal. Piech, on the other hand, had different pursuers: Volkswagen said in 2017 it might go after the family scion for reportedly leaking about potential cheating on the emissions tests six months before the situation went public. The same year, Piech sold his 14.7 percent stake in the the VW Group's holding company, netting him a billion. So what could the now-81-year-old ex-Caesar be doing with Bugatti now? The easy money is on some kind of Chiron-based coupe, but for a reputed $18 million, this would need to be a massive departure from the Chiron. Assuming the price is accurate, this would outdo the most expensive new car yet, the Rolls-Royce Sweptail of 2017, said to cost $13 million. The English custom kept " 30 to 40 designers, engineers, craftspeople, and testers" busy for four years.

$4.4M Bugatti Bolide moves down the track and closer to production

Unveiled in 2020, and approved for production a year later, the Bugatti Bolide is one step closer to hitting the track. The automaker just published photos of the car being put through its paces, and it released details about some of features that differentiate it from the Chiron. Writing off the Bolide as a rebodied Chiron would be an oversimplification. While the two cars share an 8.0-liter, quad-turbocharged W16 engine, the list of Bolide-specific parts is long. Bugatti explains that its engineers designed the model around a new carbon fiber monocoque, and they were unfettered by the various rules and regulations that shape modern cars because the Bolide isn't street-legal. It's exclusively a track car. Changes were made to the cooling system, the suspension system, and the transmission; the suspension is notably three times stiffer than the Chiron's, and it includes uniball bearings. Several 3D-printed parts, including titanium rockers, will be used to build it. Even the engine isn't carried over; not quite. In the Bolide, the four turbochargers always provide boost because the 16-cylinder is expected to spend a lot of time at higher revolutions. In comparison, the Chiron uses a sequential setup: The two smaller turbos generate boost at up to 3,800 rpm, and the two bigger units kick in beyond that. The end result is 1,578 horsepower in a car that tips the scale at 3,196 pounds.  Slick tires designed by Michelin put the power to the ground, while a carbon-ceramic braking system keeps it in check. Interestingly, Bugatti designed new calipers that generate and absorb heat to help the brakes warm up as quickly as possible (they're less effective when cold). Bugatti will begin delivering the Bolide in 2024. Production is limited to 40 units, and the model is sold out in spite of a base price pegged at ˆ4 million excluding taxes, which represents approximately $4.39 million at the current conversion rate. If that's too much, or if you missed your chance to buy one, one alternative is a 905-piece Lego Technic kit that stretches about a foot long and that costs about $50. It's too early to tell what's next. We know that the Bolide is one of the last W16-powered Bugatti models along with the Mistral convertible and the final examples of the Chiron.

Bugatti looking into hybrid tech for next-gen Veyron?

Fast. Powerful. Opulent. There are any number of descriptors one could use to describe the Bugatti Veyron. But along with them is "heavy" - including heavy on fuel consumption. That's just the way it goes when you're dealing with a sixteen-cylinder, quad-turbo beast of a supercar. But that could change, if the latest output from the rumormill proves accurate.
According to a report from Auto Express, Bugatti is keen to improve its image in the eyes of a tree-hugging world, so it is looking at ways to make the successor to the Veyron more fuel efficient. One way would be to make the car lighter, something that shouldn't be all that difficult considering that the current model weighs in at over 4,000 pounds. One such method of trimming the fat reportedly revolves around carbon-fiber wheels, something that's been done before but far from widely adopted.
At the other end of the spectrum, Bugatti is also reportedly evaluating the prospect of hybrid propulsion - something that would not reduce weight but could help fuel consumption figures while keeping the power up. If the Molsheim automaker were to go that route, we'd expect something closer to what Ferrari is working on for the Enzo successor than an upmarket Toyota Prius.