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One-off Bugatti Chiron Super Sport Golden Era features hand-drawn sketches

Although the Bugatti Chiron is sold out, the French brand still has several examples left to build before it can close this chapter of its history. It unveiled a Chiron Super Sport that took two years to create and that stands out as one of the most difficult projects it has ever taken on. Called the Chiron Super Sport Golden Era, the big coupe was designed jointly by Bugatti and the anonymous collector who commissioned it — the buyer played a significant role in shaping this one-off. The customer wanted to celebrate the brand's history, so the design team that was led by Achim Anscheidt until he retired in July 2023 came up with a one-of-a-kind livery that consists of 45 sketches of cars, planes, symbols, and even buildings from Bugatti's past. There's a catch: every one of these sketches needed to be drawn on the car by hand. "The implementation may sound quite straight-forward, but achieving a perfect finish, and one that would last the test of time, took more patience and craftsmanship than you could ever imagine," Anscheidt explained. Designers assigned each side of the car its own facet of Bugatti's history. The passenger's side highlights early cars, like the Type 41 Royale and the Type 57 SC Atlantic. The driver's side focuses on newer models, including the EB110, the Veyron, and the one-off La Voiture Noire. With the layout finalized, Bugatti turned its attention to the color. Designers painted the front end in Nocturne Black, and this color fades into a shade of gold called Dore (which means "golden" in French). Then came the hard part: putting it all together. "It was very clear to us from the beginning that we can only achieve an authentic finish for these sketches – and at Bugatti authenticity is paramount – if we actually used the pencils that we use for sketching on paper – anything else would result in something looking fake or low in quality," Anscheidt said. All told, the drawing process took over 400 hours of work. The interior received a similar (but not quite as labor-intensive) treatment. The outline of three Bugatti models is painted directly onto each door panel, "Golden Era" is stitched onto each headrest, and a "One of One" logo appears on the center console. The era shown on each side of the car is written on the door sills to add a finishing touch to the look. Bugatti will deliver the Chiron Super Sport Golden Era to its new owner during Monterey Car Week. Related video:

Bugatti Rimac signs exclusive distribution deal with VW of America

Volkswagen Group of America (VGoA) has only just announced a deal it signed with Bugatti Rimac during Monterey Car Week last month. The deal gives VGoA exclusive rights to import and distribute Bugatti and Rimac products in the United States, and puts the COO of Bugatti America, Sascha Doering, in charge of the Rimac's American outpost as well. Mate Rimac, CEO of what's now called the Rimac Group, said, "For both the Bugatti and Rimac brands, the U.S. is the strongest single market in the world, so it’s important that we curate a sales and ownership experience befitting the extraordinary cars that weÂ’re delivering to customers. The alignment and cooperation with Volkswagen Group of America will allow a new dealer network in the States to evolve with the enormous experience and resources available to them, allowing us to combine all the best bits of a mass-market sales operation with the bespoke, customer-centric special touches that have become a hallmark of both Bugatti and Rimac brands." We suspect the news will have more effect on Bugatti dealers than Rimac dealers, but neither company explained what the new arrangement will mean. Rimac's retailer map shows seven stores in the U.S. Three of those seven also sell Bugatti, one assumes they'll only need to deal with paperwork and potential new showroom dictates. Of the remaining four, two sell numerous additional brands that include VW nameplates other than Bugatti, one appears to only sell Rimac and Koenigsegg, and one appears to sell just Rimac. Those latter two could be cut off from the herd. However, it's more likely that all of the dealers saw this coming once Rimac turned into Bugatti Rimac in 2021. For anyone interested in minutiae, Bugatti Rimac is a joint venture between Porsche and Rimac, the German sports car company owning a 45% stake, the Rimac Group owning 55%. The Rimac Group is the carmaking division and Rimac Technology, which engineers electric powertrains for other automakers like Pininfarina and is separate from the production cars, is 100% owned by Rimac Group. No matter all that. By the time Bugatti's new hybrid debuts next year, eager buyers should be clear on who they'll need to call to place a deposit. Related video:

Watch VW Group Night kick off the Frankfurt festivities

The Frankfurt Motor Show is Volkswagen's home affair. As a result, the whole of the automaker group makes a big splash, even before the show doors open. We'll be live from the Frankfurt floor starting early tomorrow morning, but tonight we're posted up in the stands at the always-entertaining Volkswagen Group Night. To give you a taste of what it's like to be there, we're going to be shooting some man-on-the-scenes video as the night progresses. Below you'll find videos of all the best that VW Group brands – Audi, Lamborghini, VW, the lot – have to offer, as quick as we can upload them. So, enjoy the Short Cut Videos you see here. And stay tuned as we add more to the tally, below. And, of course, be sure to check in on Autoblog early and often tomorrow, when we bring you official debuts of new production vehicles and concept cars, a ton of new video content, live image galleries, and lots more.Seat Leon Cross Sport Bentley Bentayga Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4 Spyder Volkswagen Multivan PanAmerican Edition Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo Concept Audi E-Tron Quattro Concept Audi A4 Ducati Monster 1200 R Volkswagen Tiguan Skoda Superb Combi Porsche 911 Carrera S Coupe and Cabrio Volkswagen Tiguan GTE Porsche Mission E Concept Volkswagen Group Night Finale Green Frankfurt Motor Show Audi Bentley Bugatti Lamborghini Volkswagen SEAT Skoda Videos Original Video Frankfurt 2015