Bugatti Divo with W16 Engine, Silver & White

The Divo's brief was agility, and Bugatti measured it in numbers. Against the Chiron on which it is based, it is 35 kg lighter, generates 90 kg more downforce and reaches 1.6 g of lateral acceleration; around the Nardò handling circuit in southern Italy it is eight seconds faster. The price was top speed, limited to 380 km/h. Harder springs, revised camber front and rear and a more direct chassis set-up sharpened the steering, while the 1,500 PS quad-turbo W16 stayed as it was. Bugatti presented the car as a revival of its coachbuilding tradition, built only forty and sold every one before it was shown.

Here the Divo is finished in metallic silver-grey, set off by white on the splitter, the sill blades and the stripe that runs over the bonnet and roof, with exposed black carbon framing the lower body and the French tricolore on the sill. Grey multi-spoke wheels and the dark, slatted tail lamps keep the scheme cool and technical. To one side, on the same carbon-weave base, sits a separate model of the W16 with its gearbox, mounted on two polished posts: turbochargers, charge pipes, ignition leads and heat-shielded manifolds are all modelled, so the engine reads as a sculpture in its own right. Ettore Bugatti's signature and a nameplate with the macaron and Divo script complete the base. Built at 1:18.