Bugatti Brouillard: new ultra-bespoke arm reveals W16 swansong
New division for bespoke one-offs launches with a Mistral-based creation that could be most expensive Bugatti yet
The Brouillard will be the last Bugatti to use the W16 powerplant
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by Felix Page
5 mins read
7 August 2025
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Bugatti is finally bidding goodbye to the W16 engine after two decades with a striking new one-off hypercar that is set to be the most expensive car the French company has yet built.
Based on the Mistral speedster but with a fixed glass roof in place of that car’s open top, the Brouillard – French for ‘mist’ – will be the last new standalone Bugatti model to use the firm’s W16.
All future creations are set to be based on the Tourbillon, which uses a 1775bhp plug-in hybrid powertrain centred around a Cosworth-designed V16.
The Brouillard is due to be delivered in 2027 as the first in a line of “hyper-exclusive” one-offs from Bugatti’s new Solitaire coachbuilding division, which design chief Frank Heyl said will go much further than the existing Sur Mesure personalisation programme by creating “full, custom-made, geometrically unique cars”.
In this respect Solitaire will be similar to Bentley’s Mulliner division, which created the Continental-based Batur and Bacalar limited editions, or the Bespoke arm of Rolls-Royce, which is responsible for the £20 million-plus Droptail.
The popularity of the existing Sur Mesure offering has proved so popular that “there is nearly no new car that isn’t individualised in some way,” according to Heyl, who added there is now “huge demand” from Bugatti’s most well-heeled customers for even greater individuality. The Brouillard shows how Solitaire – based at Bugatti’s new global design HQ in Berlin – can cater to that demand.
“There’s not a single panel on the car that is the same as on the Mistral,” said Heyl, adding that the blank-sheet approach to designing Solitaire commissions will “enable us to go very specific” in meeting customer wishes.
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Bugatti Mistral
Mistral is the final outing for Bugatti’s mighty W16 quad-turbo engine. And what a way to bow out
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The Brouillard retains the Mistral’s 1578bhp quad-turbo W16 and basic body-in-white, but it has been extensively redesigned according to the tastes of its unnamed owner – who took inspiration from company founder and keen equestrian Ettore Bugatti’s favourite thoroughbred horse, named Brouillard.
The eponymous stallion’s muscular form inspired the Brouillard’s smooth, flowing silhouette, which Heyl said has “no hard lines” and is instead defined by “soft shapes and bulging muscles”. It keeps the Mistral’s distinctive visor-style glasshouse and basic front light design but is otherwise visually distinct, with more minimalist surfacing treatment and a streamlined rear end that culminates in a new, venturi-style fixed ducktail wing.
The Brouillard’s swap from open to fixed roof was also made in the name of exclusivity. Heyl said: “It’s a one-of-one, so it’s very special to make it a coupé. All 99 Mistrals were roadsters. Why not make a coupé?”
There are subtle nods to the legendary Veyron hypercar – which turns 20 in 2025 and was the first car to use the W16 engine – including the chunky dual roof scoops (which Heyl said are functional), and the Brouillard’s more overt cab-forward shape.“The main gesture of the car is leaping forward and yet leaning back,” he said. “It reminds me of the novelty of the Veyron.”
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The Brouillard’s owner has emphasised the bespoke nature of their creation with an outlandish green-over-green colour scheme, with the exposed carbonfibre lower body sections tinted to match the satin paintwork.
The interior upholstery is coloured accordingly, including the equestrian-inspired tartan.
The substantial redesign showcases just how far Solitaire customers can go in making their car unique. But Heyl said it is important that whatever a customer demands, the final product must still be recognisable as a Bugatti. ”It must retain our trademark signatures that have become the DNA of the brand: the horseshoe grille, the Bugatti line on the side, the vertical centre line,” he said.
However, he added: “If you do a bespoke one-of-one, you can deviate outside of the norm. It gives the designers some freedom where otherwise we would need to stick to a certain rule book. Yet we are still making it a Bugatti through reinterpreting our DNA elements.”
Heyl said the Brouillard took around 18 months to complete. The Solitaire division has capacity to create a new bespoke model every six months, which suggests cars two and three are under way already. Future projects may not be publicly revealed, to protect the privacy of the high-net-worth customers, but the Brouillard will make its debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance next week to showcase the Solitaire offering.
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The Brouillard will cost significantly more than the £5 million Mistral on which it is based, because it still requires the same amount of design and homologation work as a series car.
Heyl said: “The investment is almost the same if we make 10, 100 or one. You still have to engineer it, you still have to tool it, you still have to test it – so the investment is significant, and if you have only one vehicle to return that investment, the price is accordingly high.”
That means the Brouillard is likely to edge the £11.3m La Voiture Noire as the most expensive Bugatti yet. When asked for confirmation, Heyl said: “Possibly.”
Q&A Frank Heyl, director of design, Bugatti-Rimac
How far can Solitaire go?
“The programme gives customers the opportunity to create a geometrically different one-of-one vehicle based on the platform. And if you think about it, it also has a value, because as a one-of-one, it’s incomparable – and this is another value of Ettore Bugatti: ‘If comparable, it is no longer Bugatti’. Solitaire is incomparable, and so it fits into our spectrum of businesses.”
How will you avoid devaluing the series cars?
“Supply and demand is relevant. We sold out Tourbillon in a matter of weeks – 250 units. We could have sold more, but we chose not to. And this is the same: we could have said ‘let’s make three’, but we said ‘no, it’s a one off’, because a one-off is the highest value you can create in these things.”
What if a customer asks for an SUV?
“I would ask myself if they’re the right customer for it, because we do cars that are 1.1 metres high, two seats and rear-mid-engined. So very far away from any kind of SUV.”
