You might’ve wondered what it’s like to drive a different Bugatti every day for 17 years.
Meet Steve Jenny, the man who has. As a test driver for Bugatti since 2004, he’s been with the brand since the Veyron was a prototype, and his job is to make sure that every Bugatti that comes out of the Molsheim Atelier is exactly what its discerning, multimillion-dollar customer needs it to be.
Getting a job like the one Steve Jenny has isn’t easy. From the very beginning of his time as a licensed driver, he was building rally cars and competing as a co-driver, after which he became an expert mechanic and technician. With a resume featuring jobs at companies like Mahle and BBS, Steve Jenny was qualified in the highest echelons of the motorsport industry, and his journey at Bugatti began when he heard from a friend about cars being driven at a private racetrack at Colmar that were “as fast as fighter jets.”
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Test driving a Bugatti like the Chiron is an intensive process, and for a car with the price and the performance of a Bugatti, that’s no surprise. First, quality controllers make sure that the car is complete with every bespoke specification the customer laid out, and also ensure that all the electric components function. Only after that is certified does the five-hour test drive process begin, which is where Steve Jenny and his expertise come in.
Steve has created four test drive routes: summer, winter, transition, and analysis. The 180-mile test drive that follows covers mountain roads and cobblestone paths, and throughout the process, he feels and listens to the car to make sure it holds up perfectly. High-speed testing happens on a closed runway of Colmar Airport, where the car is pushed to its incredible limits and the air braking, launch control, high-speed lane changing, and other high-speed functions are tested to ensure safety and confidence when the Bugatti customer wants to experience the full extent of what their car is capable of. Back at the Atelier, Steve uses a long checklist to approve the car for one final test drive and preparation to be brought to the customer.
When asked if the job ever gets boring, Steve says no. We certainly don’t imagine it would. While few people in the world will ever get as much Bugatti experience as Steve Jenny, you can live the Bugatti dream by clicking below to shop Bugattis on the duPont REGISTRY.
