Bugatti unleashes £3.2m Tourbillon game-changer

Chiron successor is a 250-off, all-new hyper-GT powered by a 1775bhp hybrid V16

- FELIX PAGE

Bugatti's new era begins with the arrival of the long-awaited Tourbillon hyper-GT, which replaces the Chiron with a dramatic new look, a radical, 1775bhp hybridised V16 engine, a preliminary top speed of 276mph and a target to become the world's fastest road car.

Named after the tiny mechanism that maintains accuracy in high-end watches, the Tourbillon arrives exactly 20 years after the launch of the Veyron, which was the most powerful road car of its time. That car's successor, the Chiron, made its debut in 2016 and has now ended production at Bugatti's Molsheim factory in France, in preparation for the new car to be built from 2026.

Just 250 units will be produced and the starting price of £3.2 million makes this the most expensive new car in 'series' production.

Bugatti CEO Mate Rimac refers to the Tourbillon as "art on wheels, a moving painting", and says he wanted to continue the company's legacy of "bending physics".

When Rimac acquired Bugatti in 2021, the French firm was in the early development phase for an "electric coupé-SUV type of thing", he said, but he "thought that was absolutely wrong for the brand".

"Luckily, I won that argument," he said, grinning, at the unveiling of his new 16-cylinder hypercar, touting the 'emotional' appeal of a low-slung silhouette and a huge engine.

"We wanted to have it very emotional. It has to feel special, because 'if it is comparable, it is no longer Bugatti'," he said, referencing the slogan of company founder Ettore Bugatti.

POWERTRAIN

The Tourbillon takes an appropriately outlandish approach to electrification by dropping the behemoth W16 motor that powered the Chiron and Veyron for a 1775bhp plugin hybrid arrangement centred on a screaming, naturally aspirated V16 in the middle.