Bugatti Mistral is the most flamboyant swansong to the mighty W16

Bugatti pulled off something close to an automotive miracle when they unveiled the Veyron. The bit that made it legendary was its quad-turbo 1000+ hp W16 monster of an engine. Variants of this mill have powered the entire Bugatti line-up since then but the time has come for it to go. Here is the new Bugatti Mistral acting as one final hurrah, a sweet swan song to this legendary motor.

It is not a secret that the W16 was going to fall prey to the vast electrification and downsizing pandemic. The Bugatti Mistral waves goodbye to this engine with more than 1,577 hp. The Mistral is based on the Chiron but the design has its own unique charm. The windscreen wraps around the driver and the roof can be popped off for some wind-in-the-hair action. Dual air scoops ram air into the engine bay to cool the motor. The exterior design does take some cues from the La Voiture Noire, the Divo as well as the Bolide track car.

Performance

The engine is the same 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 that does duty in the Chiron Super Sport 300+. This means that it churns out 1,577 hp which is good enough for this heavy convertible to be scary fast. Bugatti says that they aim for the Mistral “to become the fastest roadster in the world once more.” They achieved this feat once with the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse which achieved a top speed of 408.84 kph. The Mistral is promising as the Chiron Super Sport 300+, which it shares the engine with, has already cracked 490.484 kph. We shall wait and see when or if Bugatti puts the Mistral through a real-world test.

Limited production

Now for the smallest number in the spec sheet of the Mistral. It is limited to only 99 units. From this number, let us transition over to the big number – the price. Each piece of the Mistral will set the buyer back by a sticker price of €5 million (AED 18,279,000). Before you go running to the showroom, you are too late as all of them are already sold.