Bugatti Bolide Wins Another Award Before It's Even Launched

Last year, the mindblowing Bugatti Bolide was awarded the title of Most Beautiful Hypercar of the Year by the Festival Automobile International in Paris. Some people disagreed and felt that it was too extreme to be considered beautiful, but it mattered not. Those who could afford its sensational asking price acted quickly, and the Bolide sold out in January of this year. Bugatti is naturally very proud of its wild creation and took it to Villa d'Este this past weekend, where it won yet another accolade, namely the Design Award in the Concept Cars and Prototypes class, repeating the win it achieved in 2019 with the one-off La Voiture Noire. Could it have gone to any other car this year? We think not.

The wild hypercar wowed audiences at the Concorso d'Eleganza, but it was just one of four Bugattis on display at the weekend, and almost all of them took home awards for their design. Andrew Pisker, the owner of a Bugatti Type 57S Vanvooren Cabriolet, won Best of Show at the event, as well as top honors in Class A "The Golden Age of Elegance: The Art Deco Era of Motor Car Design." For the former achievement, he was presented with a one-of-a-kind 1815 chronograph from A. Lange & Sohne. In addition, a Type 59 Sports owned by designer Ralph Lauren that also competed in Class A won the FIVA Trophy for the Best Preserved Pre-War Car at the show.

Bugatti is naturally quite pleased with the outcome of the event, but we can't help but wonder if the Bolide will be considered quite as special as its classic forebears when it is several decades old. Regardless, it will certainly turn heads and crack eardrums. Powered by Bugatti's signature 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16 engine, it produces 1,824 horsepower and 1,364 lb-ft of torque (when fueled with 110-octane race gas), considerably more than you get in the Chiron hypercar. Bugatti says that it will do 62 mph in just 2.17 seconds and will ultimately reach terminal velocity somewhere "well above" 310 mph. Hopefully, Bugatti will do more than just parade it around at shows; we want to see evidence of those claims someday soon.