In the quiet commune of Molsheim, where Bugatti has handcrafted its masterpieces for over a century, the final Bugatti Bolide has rolled out of the Atelier, bringing an end not just to a production run of 40 cars but to the age of the quad-turbocharged W16 itself.
What began as an almost reckless “What if?” experiment has evolved, four intense years later, into one of the most extreme track-focused hypercars ever made. And with this final customer car delivered, the W16’s story reaches a poetic conclusion.
This last Bolide is more than Car #40. It is the closing line in the most radical chapter of Bugatti performance: a bespoke, motorsport-inspired commission crafted with the precision of an F1 engineering programme and the artistry of Molsheim’s finest artisans.
From Digital Dream To Motorsport Reality
When the Bolide concept was revealed in October 2020, it looked like something too wild even for Bugatti: a skeletal, aero-intensive track machine powered by an unrestrained W16. But the response was so overwhelming that by August 2021, during The Quail in California, Bugatti made the bold decision to build it.
This wasn’t a simple “green light.” Bugatti essentially had to reverse engineer a fantasy. As CTO Emilio Scervo recalls, the Bolide was little more than a vision in early sketches when he joined the project in 2021. Turning that vision into a real track weapon meant compressing years of development into a handful of meticulous engineering sprints.
The design freeze came in 2022, followed by an all-out development assault through 2023 and early 2024. The pace was relentless: 18-hour days, debriefs deep into the night, and track-testing schedules where downtime was measured not in hours, but in minutes. This is the level of obsession required to create a Bugatti track car that must satisfy both an enthusiastic gentleman driver and a seasoned professional racer.
Le Mans 2023: The Moment The Bolide Proved Itself
Every great Bugatti has a proving ground moment. For the Bolide, that moment arrived during the Le Mans centenary in 2023. Wearing a livery honouring Bugatti’s 1930s Grand Prix dominance, the Bolide thundered down the Mulsanne Straight with Bugatti test driver Andy Wallace at the controls.
The telemetry captured the number the engineers were dying to see: 350km/h on the hallowed French tarmac. More impressive was how the Bolide behaved. Thanks to an aero package that generates double its own weight in downforce at Vmax, it stayed unflinchingly stable.
With slick tyres loading up to 2.5G of lateral grip and the 1,578hp W16 screaming behind him, Wallace emerged awe-struck, saying “It looks and feels like a real racing car… then the W16 adds a dimension no prototype has ever experienced.” This was the day the Bolide stopped being an engineering project and became a motorsport legend.
The Bolide’s Mechanical Soul: The Final, Fiercest W16
Bugatti’s iconic 8.0-litre quad-turbocharged W16 appears here in its most violent, track-oriented configuration ever.
Powertrain Highlights
- 8.0L Quad-Turbo W16
- 1,578hp @ 7,050 rpm
- 1,600Nm from 2,250–7,050 rpm
- 7-speed dual-clutch DSG (track-optimised ratios)
- Permanent AWD with active torque distribution
- Runs on 98 RON pump fuel
This is the last time we will see the W16 in a series-production Bugatti. No more quad-turbos, no more sixteen cylinders in a W layout, this is the end of a mechanical dynasty that began with the Veyron in 2005.
Acceleration & Speed
Engineers tuned the Bolide not for top-speed heroics, but for devastating corner-to-corner attack. The numbers show it:
- 0–100 km/h: 2.2 sec
- 0–200 km/h: 5.4 sec
- 0–300 km/h: 11.5 sec
- Top Speed: 380km/h (High-downforce setup)
These are numbers in the realm of Formula One, not hypercars.
FIA-Level Chassis Engineering
The Bolide sits on an entirely bespoke carbon-fibre monocoque co-developed with Dallara, engineered to FIA LMH and LMDh standards. In essence, this is a prototype racecar wearing the Bugatti badge. The dry weight? 1,450 kg. Combined with 1,578hp, the Bolide hits a scarcely believable 1.1hp per kg power-to-weight ratio.
Bugatti partnered with Brembo on the most extreme braking system ever fitted to a track car.
- 390mm carbon-carbon discs (front & rear)
- 8-piston front | 6-piston rear monobloc calipers
- Exclusive triple-mount caliper architecture (F1-inspired)
- 100–0 km/h in ~30 metres
The braking energy the Bolide generates is greater than any LMP or GT prototype currently in competition, a staggering engineering feat.
The Final Bolide: A Collector’s Trilogy
The last Bolide is deeply symbolic. Its owner, a long-standing Bugatti connoisseur, commissioned it in a “Black Blue” and “Special Blue Lyonnais” theme, with a “Lake Blue” Alcantara cockpit.
This colour palette mirrors his original Type 35 and the final Veyron Grand Sport, creating a personal three-car timeline spanning nearly 100 years of Bugatti creation. The French tricolour on the flanks and “Light Blue Sport” stitching pay tribute to Bugatti’s racing heritage of the 1930s.
The End Of The W16 Era
With the Bolide’s final delivery, Bugatti closes the book on the W16 era. Aside from the one-off W16 “Brouillard,” this is the last time the legendary quad-turbo sixteen-cylinder engine will leave the Molsheim Atelier as a production vehicle.
The future lies in the upcoming V16-hybrid Tourbillon, representing a new synthesis of analogue mechanical beauty and electrified power. But no model will ever embody the raw, unfiltered potential of the W16 quite like the Bolide.
