What happens when Bugatti’s engineers are given free will and freedom to build a car that doesn’t have to comply with road regulations or have to worry about creature comforts, where only the sky is the limit? Well, you end up with one of the most extreme track-only hypercars of modern times, the Bugatti Bolide.
Conceived as a no-compromise tribute to speed and downforce, the Bugatti Bolide answers a question that few have dared to ask: what if Chiron were remagined solely for the race track? Now, the very first example off the line, chassis #001, is heading to auction at the upcoming Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach Sale next month in August at the Monterey Car Week. Finished in a stunning shade of French Racing Blue with Nocturne Black carbon accents with the Bolide’s signature X design elements, this example, delivered to teamcjworks in Texas, has just 389 miles on the odometer and represents the first customer-delivered Bolide.
Originally revealed as a design study during the pandemic in 2020, the Bolide, as previously mentioned, was meant to explore the limits of Bugatti’s capabilities, completely free from street-legal constraints. Public interest in the concept was so overwhelming that Bugatti eventually decided to build a limited run of production cars. Launched at Le Mans in 2023, each car is tailored to its owner for track domination, and all units were subsequently spoken for with prices hovering around $4.8 million. This particular example (chassis #001) is now estimated to fetch ~$6 million.
Coming to the specifications, the Bolide features Bugatti’s legendary 8.0-liter W16 engine that saw action from the original record-breaking Veyron 16.4 to the Mistral Roadster. In this application, the quad-turbo engine underwent racetrack optimizations, including beefed-up turbos and a more robust lubrication system to withstand sustained loads and higher temperatures seen in racing.
It is tuned to deliver 1,600 horsepower and 1,180 pound-feet of torque. With a dry weight of just 3,086 pounds, the Bolide can hit 62 mph in just 2.2 seconds. While the concept had a claimed top speed over 310 mph, the production version was limited to 236 mph. With the ability to produce nearly three tonnes of downforce at speed and equipped with massive carbon ceramic brakes, capable of bringing the car to a complete stop from 186 mph in just six seconds, the Bolide truly is a master class in motorsport-inspired engineering and aerodynamics.
With only 40 examples ever built, bidding is expected to be fierce when the hammer drops on August 15–16 for one of the most collectible Bugattis in history.
Source: Gooding & Co, Bugatti
