Photo: Bugatti
Christmas, as we’ve known it for so long, has been pretty much canceled this year, due to the need to social distance and limit interpersonal contact with anyone outside our bubble. But that’s not to say we’re not getting any special Christmas treats at all.
Bugatti is here for us (well, not really) and eager to spread the Christmas cheer (which is one way of putting it) by putting the world-famous and world’s most expensive La Voiture Noire on display for all the peasants passers-by to gawk at it at will. How’s that for getting into the Christmas spirit?
That may have come out harsher than intended. Because the Christmas market in Molsheim, France has been canceled, much like Christmas events and markets have been throughout the world, Bugatti decided to do a good deed and take the LVN outside. It now sits in a display case near the town’s Christmas tree, which probably makes it the world’s most expensive Christmas decoration as well. It will remain there until March 2021, so if you happen to pass by, do check it out.
The intention is an admirable one, to be sure. Bugatti is saying they’re giving back to the town where they got started and aiming to put a little smile on every face that might be upset at the canceled Christmas market. “Nothing can replace the Molsheim Christmas market,” Christophe Piochon, Site Manager and Managing Director Production and Logistics at Bugatti, says in a statement. “However, it is important for us to bring joy to people from the region in these difficult times.”
The mayor of Molsheim also says nice words about the display, including how it will offer residents the unique chance to admire this masterpiece of a machine. Which is true.
But this shouldn’t make us overlook the fact that this is a PR stunt wrapped in a transparent display case, posing as a Christmas gift. It’s the perfect chance to take in all that makes La Voiture Noire such a masterpiece visually, but it’s still PR.
In case you mistake this for the real thing, know that this is the show car of the one-off model, which was sold for €11 million ($13.4 million at today’s exchange rate) to an unknown Bugatti enthusiast before the official presentation at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. LVN was unveiled to mark the brand’s 110th anniversary and is a tribute to the Bugatti 57 SC Atlantic. Its quad-turbo 8.0-liter W16 engine delivers 1,600 PS (1,578 hp) and a performance comparable to the Chiron, or so it is assumed.
That may have come out harsher than intended. Because the Christmas market in Molsheim, France has been canceled, much like Christmas events and markets have been throughout the world, Bugatti decided to do a good deed and take the LVN outside. It now sits in a display case near the town’s Christmas tree, which probably makes it the world’s most expensive Christmas decoration as well. It will remain there until March 2021, so if you happen to pass by, do check it out.
The intention is an admirable one, to be sure. Bugatti is saying they’re giving back to the town where they got started and aiming to put a little smile on every face that might be upset at the canceled Christmas market. “Nothing can replace the Molsheim Christmas market,” Christophe Piochon, Site Manager and Managing Director Production and Logistics at Bugatti, says in a statement. “However, it is important for us to bring joy to people from the region in these difficult times.”
The mayor of Molsheim also says nice words about the display, including how it will offer residents the unique chance to admire this masterpiece of a machine. Which is true.
But this shouldn’t make us overlook the fact that this is a PR stunt wrapped in a transparent display case, posing as a Christmas gift. It’s the perfect chance to take in all that makes La Voiture Noire such a masterpiece visually, but it’s still PR.
In case you mistake this for the real thing, know that this is the show car of the one-off model, which was sold for €11 million ($13.4 million at today’s exchange rate) to an unknown Bugatti enthusiast before the official presentation at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. LVN was unveiled to mark the brand’s 110th anniversary and is a tribute to the Bugatti 57 SC Atlantic. Its quad-turbo 8.0-liter W16 engine delivers 1,600 PS (1,578 hp) and a performance comparable to the Chiron, or so it is assumed.
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