An online car configurator is undoubtedly a very interesting tool for gearheads, including me, where hours can be spent playing around with different options to build a dream car. However, Bugatti doesn’t want the buyers who paid a whopping $5 million for the limited-production track-only Bolide hypercar to bother with such trivial things. All the future owners of the ultra-rare hypercar were recently invited to Bugatti’s home in Molsheim for an exclusive hands-on experience, which included working with the brand’s specialists to personally configure their cars.
“It is always a great pleasure for us to welcome customers here in Molsheim, the home of Bugatti,” said Hendrik Malinowski, Managing Director of Bugatti Automobiles. “Every Bugatti hyper sports car is special, but the Bolide is an era-defining moment. The one and only modern track car powered by our legendary W16 engine. For our customers, we curated a unique journey that pays homage to Bolide’s vision and its many inspirations in our legendary racing heritage.”
As part of the carefully curated experience, the Bolide customers were brought to Château Saint Jean, the house of Bugatti since 1928, where a bespoke motorsports-inspired journey awaited them. Drawing inspiration from its legendary racing history, the Bugatti patrons were offered an on-road experience of the iconic Bugatti Type 35 race car which registered over 2,000 racing victories to its name between 1924 and 1930. The guests were also acquainted with some other iconic Bugatti models, including the Type 57G ‘Tank’ and Type 59/50B III race car developed under Ettore Bugatti himself.
This was followed by a first-hand experience for the visitors to collaborate with Jascha Straub, Sales and Design Executive at Bugatti, and carefully personalize their Bolide to their exact taste. Straub guided the customers through each part of this meticulous process, discussing every aspect in detail and even giving them ideas on ways to pay tribute to the brand’s past. In fact, one of the customers ended up opting for a two-tone Bugatti Blue with dark blue split, in homage to the Le Mans Type 57 G Tank. Once the configuration process was completed, the future owners were given a taste of driving their track-only hypercars on an ultra-advanced simulator.
The Bugatti Bolide is described as the purest incarnation of the W16 engine by the French automaker. Limited to just 40 examples, it was designed to be used exclusively on race tracks, which is quite evident from its extreme design and aggressive aero elements. Although it gets the same 8-liter quad-turbo W16 engine and the 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission used in the Chiron, the powertrain has been tuned to perform on race tracks. The engine produces 1,824 hp and 1,364 lb-ft of torque, which is 277 hp more than the Chiron Super Sport 300+.
Inspired by LMP1 race cars, the Bolide features ultra-lightweight construction, which includes nearly all of the body panels constructed in carbon fiber and all of its components made from titanium. As a result, the track-only hypercar weighs only 3197 pounds, which makes it much lighter than other derivatives of the Chiron. According to Bugatti, the Bolide could lap the Nürburgring in 5 minutes and 23.1 seconds, making it just four seconds slower than the current record holder, the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo.
