autoevolution
 

$18.7M Bugatti La Voiture Noire Has a Dark Secret

How does anybody justify a €16.5M/$18.68M price tag for a new car? Well, ladies and gentlemen drivers, Bugatti has just come up with an answer to that question at the Geneva Motor Show. This comes in the form of the Bugatti La Voiture Noire. Now, if that number seems like too much, you could use the pre-tax price of the one-off, which sits at €11 million ($12.45M).
Bugatti La Voiture Noire 14 photos
Photo: shmee150/Instagram
Bugatti La Voiture NoireBugatti La Voiture NoireBugatti La Voiture NoireBugatti La Voiture NoireBugatti La Voiture NoireBugatti La Voiture NoireBugatti La Voiture NoireBugatti La Voiture NoireBugatti La Voiture NoireBugatti La Voiture NoireBugatti La Voiture NoireBugatti La Voiture NoireBugatti La Voiture Noire
The rolling piece of art sitting before you might be based on the Chiron and share the latter's 1,500 hp quad-turbo W16 motor, but this contraption takes the idea of spectacular to a whole new level.

The inspiration for the machine comes from a troubled piece of Bugatti history. Mention the name of the French carmaker to a conaisseur and the Type 57 SC Atlantic will make its way into the conversation.

Bugatti only built four examples of the said model between 1936 and 1938, with one of them, La Vouiture Noire (this can be transalted as "the black car") being owned by the one who created it, namely Ettore Bugatti's son Jean.

When the Nazis took control over Bugatti's Molsheim factory back in 1940, the most important pieces were sent away by train. And while La Voiture Noire was included in the preciuos cargo, this dissapeared during the transport. And to this day, nobody is aware of the vehicle's fate.

As such, Stephan Winkelmann, who now helms Bugatti after having lead the hostilities over at Lamborghini, was pleased to use this bit of pedigree - the man has a plan to continue his Lamborghini Ad Personam (he created this customisation arm) philosophy at Bugatti and surprise the customer with developments such as the one sitting before us.

After all, personalization is The Trend these days, as, for instance, Divo customers turn to digital artist for potential specs.

Design elements such as the sextuple tailpipe layout, the perforated carbon engine cover and the full-width, along with the futuristic elements found up front, make this hypercar a sight to behold.

The mystery is still floating around

For one thing, Bugatti still hasn't showcased the cabin of the vehicle and we're expecting this to pack various changes compared to the Chiron and the Divo.

Then there's the owner - the company didn't mention a name, while previous rumors stated the one-off would be destined for Dr. Ferdinand Piëch, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and former chairman of the Volkswagen Group.

Of course, not everybody is pleased with Bugatti's new crown jewel. For instance, the owner of the Rolls-Royce Sweptail, which has just handed over its world record to the said Molsheim machine (the RR came with a price of $12.8M), might be among those who don't fancy the fresh arrival.

Regardless, you can check out a live video, as well as live pics of the Bugatti La Voiture Noire in the social media posts below.

 

The new Bugatti La Voiture Noir! €16.7M, the most expensive new car ever build 1 One-off tribute to the legendary Type 57 SC Atlantic! What do you think? #supercar ÷: @shmee150 @supercar I Follow @supercar for more! #bugatti #lavoiturenoire #type57

A post shared by Filippo aka Supercar (@supercar) on Mar 5, 2019 at 12:38am PST


 

Live from the Geneva International Motor Show 2019, meet the Bugatti “La Voiture Noire.” . . . #gims #gims2019 #100oct #bugatti #exoticcars #supercars #lavoiturenoire #mostexpensive @gimsswiss @bugatti @100oct @eslkid75 @hoon_girl @bugattilosgatos

A post shared by 100IOCT (@100oct) on Mar 5, 2019 at 2:29am PST

If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Andrei Tutu
Andrei Tutu profile photo

In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories