Tag Archives: bugatti

Another Chiron

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2023 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Third Tuesday in a row we’ve featured some late model Bugatti. The problem is there’s just so damned many of them, with all of their special editions and slightly more-powerful versions. The Chiron entered production in 2016 and wrapped in early 2024. Across all variants, 500 are said to have been built.

In 2019, the company launched the Chiron Super Sport 300+. They built 30 of those, and although speed limited, sans limiter they were supposedly capable of 300 mph. In 2021, Bugatti launched the not-all-that-dissimilar Chiron Super Sport. It was mechanically similar to the 300+ but had a better-trimmed interior and a painted exterior (instead of bare carbon fiber).

The engine is a quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 rated at 1,580 horsepower. The top speed was limited to 273 mph. Something like 80 of these were made, and the very last Chiron built was of this spec. This one has an estimate of $3,750,000-$4,250,000. More info can be found here.

Chiron Sport Noire

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2021 Bugatti Chiron Sport Noire

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The “Sport” version of the Bugatti Chiron debuted in 2018, about two years after the base Chiron went on sale. The Sport shared the base car’s mechanicals: a 1,480-horsepower, quad-turbocharged, 8.0-liter W16. What differentiated it was it’s “track focus.” It was about 40 pounds lighter… on a two-ton car. So a rounding error. But hey, they got to charge more.

The Noire was an available package that could be had on the Chiron or Chiron Sport. It specified either an exposed carbon-fiber body or a carbon fiber body with a matte black finish, which is what this car has. The edition was to celebrate the Bugatti Type 57SC Coupe Aero of 1936.

Only 20 cars would be built this way, split however they were sold between Chiron/Chiron Sport. This car now has an estimate of $3,300,000-$3,800,000. Click here for more info.

Veyron Soleil de Nuit

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2010 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Soleil de Nuit

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Tegernsee, Germany | July 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

I’m beginning to think that every Veyron was a “one-off.” Veyron owners must be like old Mustang owners who live and die by their Marti reports that boil down their car’s combination of colors and options to be “the only one like it made.” In this case, this Grand Sport (or targa version) is dubbed “Soleil de Nuit,” which is French for “night sun.” And it is a “one-off”… which I think comes to the fact that it has unique colors.

The car debuted at the 2009 Dubai International Motor Show with polished aluminum lower panels and Black Blue Metallic uppers over Burnt Orange leather. It was originally owned by the Kuwaiti Royal Family and was purchased by its current German owner in 2016.

Power is provided by a quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 that was rated at 987 horsepower. Even with the roof removed this car can do 229 mph. It now has an estimate of $1,650,000-$2,150,000. Click here for more info.

Bugatti Wagon

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1927 Bugatti Type 40 Break de Chasse

Offered by Gooding & Company | April 2024

Photo – Gooding & Company

Bugatti’s Type 40 was produced from 1926 through 1930. In that time, just 796 examples were made, including this one, which originally wore sedan bodywork. The model was powered by a 1.5-liter inline-four.

But the story here is twofold. One, the bodywork. It was in the 1930s or ’40s when the car was rebodied with wooden rear coachwork. It bounced around France for a few years before story number two comes into play: ownership. In 1958 it was sold to American Bugatti collector John Shakespeare.

In 1964, Shakespeare made one of the worst decisions in the history of car collecting: he sold his entire collection to the Schlumpf brothers in France. The brothers, of course, assembled a massive hoard of cars, with a focus on Bugattis, at the expense of their hard-working employees, who eventually rioted and took control of the factory and collection. It now lives on as the national automotive museum of France. Everything in there, locked away forever, never to be enjoyed as they were meant to be: driven.

However, this car was part of the museum’s “reserve” collection. That is, “extras.” When you have the car collecting status that Peter Mullin did, sometimes you can escape some trapped cars, and he bought the entire Schlumpf reserve in 2008. He died recently, and Gooding is liquidating his museum. So, through some roundabout circumstances over 60 years, the car is resurfacing and may someday again be driven. The estimate is $100,000-$150,000. More info can be found here.

Type 57 by Letourneur et Marchand

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1939 Bugatti Type 57 Cabriolet by Letourneur et Marchand

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 2024

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Type 57 was a fairly popular car from Bugatti, with 710 examples produced between 1934 and 1940. This one looks like a lot of other Type 57s, with the upright radiator shell and sweeping two-tone bodywork. The thing that is really kind of trippy is the area around the headlights. Lots of curving metal there.

Each naturally aspirated Type 57 received a 3.3-liter inline-eight that made 135 horsepower. They were good for about 95 mph. This car wears coachwork by French coachbuilder Letourneur et Marchand, and it is first of eight so bodied.

It remained under ownership in France until being exported to the U.S. in 1957. And it’s been here most of the time since, spending a few years in the Netherlands in the 2000s. The estimate here is $900,000-$1,200,000. Click here for more info.

Bugatti Type 22

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1914 Bugatti Type 22 Prince Henry Open Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Goodwood, U.K. | July 14, 2023

Photo – Bonhams

Here’s a fun secret: most “old” Bugattis really aren’t what they started as. So much has been replaced over the years that, often times, more is new than is old. The other bucket is “assembled cars” that used bare Bugatti frames (or frames “believed to have been from a Bugatti”), reconstructed coachwork, and maybe some period mechanical components.

These trade hands often as “real” Bugattis but there is very little real about them. This car is described by Bonhams as a 1914 Bugatti Type 22-Style tourer, which is more honest than most. It was not born this way. The Bugatti Type 22 was introduced in 1913 as an updated replacement for the Type 15. It featured an oval radiator, a larger body, and quarter-elliptic springs.

This car was built around a Bugatti inline-four engine. The frame is thought to have been from 1924-1926 and has been shortened. The gearbox is also from the mid-’20s. There’s then more swapping around of bits in its history – and creation of the missing ones. Now what you have is true Bugatti power moving what could be referred to as a recreation. As this is a pretty regular occurrence in Bugatti circles, the estimate here is still a hefty $155,000-$200,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $142,509.

Chiron

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2020 Bugatti Chiron

Offered by Bonhams | Cheserex, Switzerland | June 18, 2023

Photo – Bonhams

The Chiron is the last of its kind: the full-on factory effort for speed provided by a fossil fuel-burning monster of an engine. Production of the Chiron lasted from 2016 through 2022 across a number of sub-models and is said to be the last hurrah for Bugatti’s insane quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 engine.

That engine, in the base Chiron, produced 1,479 horsepower. It could hit 60 in 2.4 second and topped out at 261 mph, which is actually governed “due to current tire technology.” That’s kind of odd, as later Chirons could hit 300 mph.

This car was spec’d at the factory by its owner in two-tone Atlantic Blue and French Racing Blue. It is one of 500 Chirons produced. Perhaps the most interesting thing here is that Bonhams chooses to claim that the car has never been driven in the rain. How do you prove that? The estimate is $2,750,000-$3,300,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold, but Bonhams is nefariously hiding the price.

Veyron Grand Sport

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2009 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 1, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Grand Sport was sort of the convertible model of Bugatti’s Veyron. It launched in 2009 and was sold alongside the coupe model for two years before the coupe was discontinued. Grand Sport production continued through 2015, with 150 built.

It’s powered by the same quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 that made 987 horsepower. Okay, so it’s not a true convertible. It’s more of a targa. Top speed was limited because of this – to a paltry 229 mph with the roof off.

This car was originally finished in black blue metallic but was refinished by the factory in black and red. Just shows you how Bugatti customers are. Can’t find the color you like? Pay the manufacturer to essentially re-do the more-or-less brand new used car you just bought. Seven figures here we come. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Chiron Profilee

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2022 Bugatti Chiron Profilee

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 1, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

In an effort to actually produce the full planned run of cars, supercar manufacturers tend to keep pumping out new special editions that are “must haves” for collectors/people with too much money to keep for a short time before moving on to something else. Bugatti is no different, as there were quite a few different versions of the Chiron, despite production being limited to only 500 units across the board.

So Bugatti set out to create one, which they called the Profilee. It has some aerodynamic updates, including a pretty cool rear wing/spoiler thing in the center. It’s powered by the quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 engine as the other Chirons are, with 1,479 horsepower available like the Pur Sport model. It got revised gearing and an increased redline, which enabled it to hit a limited top speed of 236 mph.

The Profilee never even made it to production, as the Chiron’s 500 units were spoken for before they got it finalized, so this was the only such example completed. RM is offering it on a bill of sale, presumably because it’s never been registered. I’d wish the buyer good luck, but they’re never going to drive it anyway. It’ll either get locked away somewhere or flipped at auction/sold privately about 18 months from now. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $10,866,247.

Chiron Sport

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2019 Bugatti Chiron Sport

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Miami, Florida | December 10, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Chiron is the last of its kind. The last full-out gasoline-burning chaser of speed. It debuted in 2016 and followed up on the Veyron with a version of that car’s quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16. In 2018, Bugatti introduced the Sport variant, which is said to be “track-focused.” It’s like 40 pounds lighter than the base Chiron, which already weighed 4,400 pounds. Hard to think anything that heavy really belongs on a track.

But I guess, if you have to overcome some heft, an output of 1,480 horsepower would help do the trick. This was the same output as the base car. You were basically paying an extra $400,000 for the Sport, which brought some carbon-fiber bits, a stiffer suspension, and a torque vectoring system.

This is one of 60 Chiron Sports built. Well, Bugatti said they would build 60, but who knows if they actually did. What’s fun is that you can forget zero-to-60 times and instead note that it will hit 100 mph in 4.4 seconds, which is crazy. The pre-sale estimate is $3,000,000-$3,500,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $3,305,000.