Bugatti’s legendary story is one of excellence in art and elegance as well as superb engineering and stunning performance. From the revolutionary Type 10 to the 2022 W16 Mistral Ultimate Roadster, these impeccable values form the indomitable backbone that underpins every Bugatti model. In September, Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille near Paris proved to be the ideal venue to showcase some of the Bugatti brand’s most coveted pieces.
Since the exhibition began in 2014, Bugatti has played a vital role in supporting Chantilly Art and Elegance Richard Mille. The event takes place in the park next to the stunning Château de Chantilly. Located 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of Paris, the castle is considered one of the finest gems of French heritage.
Every year, the unparalleled gathering celebrates the best things in life through sublime products in the fields of cars, art, luxury, haute cuisine and haute couture. Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille took place on the weekend of September 23-25, attracting around 16,000 visitors.
As is the custom, the weekend featured three car races for vehicles of exceptional pedigree and caliber – the Concours d’Elegance, Concours d’Etat and the Club Grand Prix – with Bugatti strongly represented in each category.
Bugatti has chosen Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille to make its European debut with the stunning Mistral W16 and to compete with the ultimate sports car at the Chantilly Concours d’Elegance on Sunday. Named for the unique wind that heralds a new season in the south of France, the superb 1,600 hp W16 quad-turbo Bugatti Mistral offers unparalleled freedom and extraordinary elegance, representing the ultimate sports car.
Bugatti first introduced the Mistral to the world at The Quail, its motorsport gathering during Monterey Car Week in August. Chantilly offers visitors a very rare opportunity to get a glimpse of the W16 Mistral, as all 99 examples, priced at 5 million euros (net) each, long before the car’s debut in Monterrey , the discerning collector promises.
The Bugatti W16 Mistral1 was on display on Saturday evening under the dome of the Grand Stables in Chantilly as part of Bugatti’s exclusive opening dinner for 60 guests. Throughout Saturday and Sunday, all visitors to Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille will be able to enjoy the W16 Mistral, which is on display in a covered stand in a prime location next to the castle.
Bugatti customers and enthusiasts were warmly welcomed at the Bugatti booth throughout the weekend. Also on display is an eclectic ensemble of Bugatti models brought by the owners. This extraordinary collection includes: one Chiron2, one Chiron Sport3, one Chiron Pur Sport4, two Chiron Super Sport5s, one Divo, one EB110, one Type 57 Gangloff, one Veyron and the world record car Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse. In addition, no less than 6 Bugatti Baby IIs will appeal to young drivers and adults alike. Overall, the Bugatti customer model performed exceptionally well at Sunday’s Club Grand Prix.
The Bugatti W16 Mistral is one of nine cars taking part in Sunday’s Concours d’Elegance in Chantilly, each representing the pinnacle of contemporary automotive design and technology. Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille aims to evoke the spirit, atmosphere and unparalleled glamour of the first French automotive Concours d’Elegance event in the 1920s. Back then, they celebrated not only the most unusual offers from the young automotive industry, but also the best haute couture from the world’s leading fashion houses in Paris.
A century later, Chantilly Concours d’Elegance uniquely blends the worlds of haute couture and automotive excellence, reviving the glory of that earlier era. Each automaker participating in the exclusive event has partnered with a fashion house; on Sunday, each car paraded with models in the most fashionable way possible, wearing 25% of the overall score.
For this event, Bugatti chose to partner with Dylan Parienty Couture House Paris. Parienty’s determination to design with boundless vision allows him to create garments that perfectly complement the avant-garde Bugatti W16 Mistral. The model walking with the Bugatti W16 Mistral wore a lovely black dress embellished with yellow Swarovski crystals. The refined equipment perfectly symbolizes the elegance and freedom of the Bugatti W16 Mistral, and of course complements the black and yellow cabin of the ultimate sports car.
Built for the ultimate automotive adventure, the W16 Mistral pays homage to one of the brand’s most elegant vehicles, the Type 57 Grand Raid Usine. Like this legendary model, the W16 Mistral comes in the colours Ettore Bugatti chose for many of his private cars, black and yellow, and for the brand’s connoisseurs, they forever represent the essence of elegance and the pinnacle of performance . The designers and engineers of the W16 Mistral are once again returning to Ettore’s Bugatti guiding values, shaping the future of the brand, backed by the use of the latest and greatest automotive technology.
A fascinating collection of Bugatti models entered Sunday’s Chantilly Concours d’Etat, with the brand sponsoring two classes: the Bugatti Type 55 and the Bugatti La Renaissance (from EB110 to the present).
Of the four cars in the former category, two of them are of extraordinary historical significance. The one-of-a-kind Bugatti Type 55 Figoni was driven at Le Mans in 1932 by legendary Bugatti driver Louis Chiron, who joined Count Guy Bouriat in the privately-registered team and shared driving with Chiron. Unfortunately, a rock got stuck between the rear axle and the fuel tank and caused a leak, preventing the car from finishing the race. Nonetheless, it was later successful in competition events across Europe. Also in the class is the Type 55 Roadster designed by Jean Bugatti, one of only 15 examples built and one of the most original in existence.
The “Bugatti, La Renaissance” class includes four variants of the legendary EB110 introduced in 1991: the 1994 Bugatti EB110 GT, the 1994 Bugatti EB110 S “Le Mans”, the 1995 Bugatti EB110 S “Sport Competizione” and the 2000 Bugatti EB110S .
The Bugatti Type 55 sports car Jean Bugatti (1932) won in the first class, while the Bugatti EB110 S “Le Mans” (1994) won in the “Bugatti, Renaissance” class. Hendrik Malinowski, Managing Director of Bugatti Sales and Marketing, and Guy Caquelin, Head of Corporate Sales, presented the awards.