Bugatti W16 Mistral, Black Carbon

On 9 November 2024, at the ATP test track in Papenburg, Andy Wallace, Le Mans winner and Bugatti Pilote Officiel, drove a W16 Mistral to 453.91 km/h, a world record for an open-top car. The car was a production-series example: Bugatti masked some panel gaps, adjusted the suspension and removed the speed limiter, and little more. It beat the 408.84 km/h set in 2013 by the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse and gave the W16 one more record before production ended. The Mistral is the final series-production Bugatti built around that engine, a roadster made 99 times with the 1,600 PS unit of the Chiron Super Sport 300+.

Here the whole body is left in exposed black carbon, the weave visible under the lacquer across the bonnet and flanks, with a fine red pinstripe running from the nose over the bonnet and along the spine. Red brake calipers sit behind black wheels, the seats are trimmed in pale grey and white, and the red X of the tail lamps carries the theme to the rear, where the wing stands raised on its polished struts. The roadster is mounted on a black suede-finish base with white contrast stitching, its nameplate bearing the Bugatti macaron, the Mistral script and a piece number from an edition of 30. H&H builds it at 1:18.