Bugatti La Voiture Noire - From a vision to reality

Photo credit: Bugatti

Stunning sculpture. Perfectly designed and all in black. The vehicle La Voiture Noire1. Exclusively for a Bugatti enthusiast, the one-off item is created within two years. After extensive development work and tests, the ultimate Gran Turismo is now being delivered promptly.

Bugatti La Voiture Noire

"With the completed La Voiture Noire, we are once again showing that we are developing the finest hyper sports cars in the world," says Stephan Winkelmann, President of Bugatti. “The coupé with its breathtaking sculpture looks particularly elegant thanks to the use of carbon fiber in deep black. A true Gran Turismo that turned a vision into reality. A unique project that represents all of Bugatti's creativity and creativity. ”Bugatti has been shaped by its pioneering spirit, passion for perfection, and the desire to keep pushing its own limits since it was founded over 110 years ago.

The name “La Voiture Noire” has a special ring to it in the automotive world: Ettore Bugatti's son Jean developed and drove one of only four Type 57 SC Atlantic cars produced. At that time the most perfect and fastest car in the world. He called his model "La Voiture Noire" - the black car. Shortly before the Second World War, the vehicle disappeared without a trace. Today it is considered the automotive amber room, one of the great mysteries of the automotive world with an indescribable value.

Chief designer Achim Anscheidt had the idea for the homage more than 20 years ago, but it took years until the opportunity arose to implement this unusual project. “We had great respect for the development of La Voiture Noire. Apart from the Type 57 SC Atlantic, there is no other vehicle in Bugatti's long history that has become such a legend and is synonymous with the entire brand. This responsibility towards history, but also towards the customer, has instilled a lot of respect in all of us, ”explains Achim Anscheidt.

This fascinating, sculptural and sovereign appearance of the vanished black car is forever unique. Jean Bugatti had a great sense of form and developed sedans and coupés in dramatic beauty. With the Atlantic, Jean Bugatti created a masterpiece. In order to create a new interpretation, the designers have to think back, understand the car, the time, technology, material and creators - and transform their work into the 21st century.

Minimalist coupé of imposing beauty

The La Voiture Noire is a similarly minimalist coupé like the Atlantic at the time, thanks to a reduction to the essentials, with reduced lines and the renunciation of a large and dominant rear wing. The designers reinterpreted the spirit of the historic vehicle, developing their own stylistic and technical form. These include the fins of the Centerline, the extended front section, the clear lines and the romance at the rear. With great attention to detail, they create a body with a unique surface quality - visible carbon coated with clear varnish, called "Black Carbon Glossy". That hardly creates any reflections, instead it creates tension and drama. The bumpers are gently integrated into the body, the windshield seems to flow smoothly into the side windows, like the visor of a helmet. Without disturbing lines, the surface looks like it is made of one piece, nothing cuts through the optical flow. As a result, the hyper sports car changes its attitude and becomes Gran Turismo. The reduction to the essentials, to tease out this essence of beauty and elegance from the surfaces, creates a unique drama.

There are also extraordinary details. There are over 25 individually milled light elements per side in the headlights - an immense effort even for a single piece. With the front grille created in 3-D printing, every honeycomb was finely sanded and checked so that it looks perfect overall. At the rear, an elegant rear light dominates, which for the first time has a one-piece frame without an intermediate joint. Six individual tailpipes cite the famous model. With a newly developed parametric design at the front and rear, body parts appear closed, although they are air-permeable. This is how the La Voiture Noire gets its incomparable coupé shape.

Bugatti completely clad the interior with full leather in the color Havana brown and is thus based on the historical model. The natural material is contrasted by specially polished and turned aluminum inserts, the so-called engine turning, on various areas of the center console, the center bracket and the doors. The speed levels can be adjusted using a noble rosewood switch. “The La Voiture Noire is the ultimate dream car for a long journey, like driving from Molsheim to Milan. The combination of perfect beauty and powerful drive culminates in this unique piece, as a love of the automobile, ”explains Achim Anscheidt.

Despite its uniqueness, Bugatti developed the coupé as elaborately as its other hyper sports cars in just two years. Every new component has to withstand the strict Bugatti test and quality processes, is measured and tested again and again before it can be placed in the vehicle. Extensive simulations are followed by trips in the wind tunnel and on test benches, then on test tracks over the entire speed range. Because of the changes to the body, cooling, thermal, wheels and wheelbase, a new balance results that has to be perfectly coordinated. "Although the La Voiture Noire vehicle is a one-off, we have developed and tested it over two years in all areas such as driving behavior and driving safety so that it can be approved," says Pierre Rommelfanger, head of body construction projects at Bugatti.

The longer wheelbase and the newly developed body result in new aerodynamics and new driving behavior that is worthy of a grand tourisme: powerful, fast and extremely comfortable. “With La Voiture Noire, we pay tribute to our long tradition, France and the creative work of Jean Bugatti,” says Stephan Winkelmann. “At the same time, we are transporting extraordinary technology, aesthetics and extreme luxury into a new age. The La Voiture Noire is at the forefront of automotive engineering, it is a sculptural beauty with a unique technology. ”The one-off has already been sold to a Bugatti enthusiast for eleven million euros (before tax).

Don't worry, of course that was far from being the case when it came to auto / auto tuning. Our magazine still has tens of thousands other tuning reports in stock. Do you want to see them all? Then just click HERE and look around. Or are you particularly interested in everything to do with the manufacturer Bugatti from France? Then the following excerpt with other vehicles is definitely the right one.

Bugatti La Voiture Noire - from a vision to reality

tuningblog.eu - on the subject of cars, motorcycles, bikes / ATV / scooters & Co., and of course our passion, the Tuning, we keep you up to date and report daily on cool vehicles from all over the world. It's best to subscribe to ours Feed and you will be automatically informed as soon as there is a new post.