It would take you 14 minutes to boil an ostrich egg or watch the full version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller." However, we'd much rather use that time to watch the first walkaround video of the Bugatti Chiron, likely to become the most exciting car of 2016... or the entire decade.
Bugatti sure took its sweet time developing this hypercar, but we are so glad they chose to follow the Veyron blueprints instead of offering a saloon with watered-down performance.
This is now the jewel in Volkswagen's crown and thanks to four square LED elements on each side, the Chiron shines brighter than the sun. The chances are that you already know what it can do in a straight line since the blue Bugatti has inundated your Facebook news feed. That's why we want to focus mainly on the design.
Some folks are already calling it an ugly car, but we don't see where they are coming from. The Chiron is much easier on the eye than the Veyron and features classic Bugatti styling cues in abundance. And let's not forget that, while the designers paid an homage to the Atlantic and other icons, they made something that hits 500 kilometers per hour. That's like a woman with the sex appeal of Victoria's Secret Model Candice Swanepoel and the arm-breaking skills of Ronda Rousey. How can you not like that?
As we've mentioned already, the Chiron features four elements shaped like little squares per headlight unit. They don't look very aerodynamic, but there is a functional air scoop to one side. Massive twin intakes on either side of the Bugatti grille feed the many radiators that are scattered around the vehicle.
That piece of silver trim is one solid piece of real aluminum and it separates the light blue A-body from the much darker B-body. The front pillars, roof and side scoops form one continuous C-curve that defines the car and is also part of the Chiron logo.
Around the back, the hypercar still features the sophisticated hydraulic wing and many design elements from the Vision Gran Turismo concept car. The taillights consist of one long red strip of LED held in place by a carbon component. We think it's safe to say they are the most radical of any production car to this date.
Speaking of which, they are only going to make 500 of these, each powered by a new 8.0-liter W16 engine with 1,500 horsepower. For more details, check out our full report on the fantastic Bugatti Chiron.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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