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Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo brings racing past into the future

Bugatti is bringing a racing-inspired coupe to the Frankfurt Motor Show called the Vision Gran Turismo. It's the latest in a long series of concepts for the PlayStation game, but unlike many of them, this one is real and will be on display in Frankfurt later this month. The Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo's shape is clearly a play on the swoopy look of the Veyron, but it's heavily modified to be a superstar on the track. The front end gets an angry look with eight LED headlights recessed intro the grille. The small fin in the center carries through the design to eventually grow much larger at the back. Massive ducts in the roof feed cool air to the engine, and four exhaust pipes poke menacingly out the rear. The two-tone blue color is meant to harken back to the brand's winner at the 1937 24 Hours of Le Mans. The interior mixes a racecar aesthetic with Bugatti's high-end upholstery. "This is for the fans: Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo" – Show car coming to Frankfurt Motor Show as world premiere Bugatti releases the first design renderings of the virtual project for PlayStation® video racing franchise Gran Turismo® The car's design celebrates Bugatti's racing history and is based on state- of-the-art motor sport technology A tribute to the Bugatti victories in Le Mans in 1937 and 1939 Molsheim, 2 September 2015. Bugatti fans, petrol heads and gamers have reason to look forward to the 66th International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt. Specifically for the motor show, Bugatti has transformed a virtual project into tangible reality. For the French super sports car brand will be presenting its virtual concept Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo, which it developed in cooperation with Polyphony Digital Inc., creator of the Gran Turismo video game franchise, as a real show car. Now Bugatti has published the first digital renderings of the car. The design of the virtual race car is celebrating Bugatti's racing history and is based on state-of-the-art motor sport technology. The project is the brand's tribute to its great racing tradition of the 1920s and 1930s and its victories in Le Mans 24-hour races. "The Bugatti design team normally works only for the exclusive and very distinguished circle of the brand's customers. Now Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo has given us the opportunity, for the first time, to do something special for our fans as well," explained Achim Anscheidt, the head of Bugatti Design.

Bugatti will stop chasing speed records to focus on 'other areas'

Bugatti made international headlines when it became the first automaker to break the 300-mph barrier. The French firm won't return to the Ehra-Lessien track in Germany to try beating its 304-mph record, because it's done chasing speed records for good. "This was the last time for us," affirmed company boss Stephan Winkelmann during a short speech filmed in the company's factory. "From now on, our minds and our focus will stay on different projects," he added. He stopped short of delivering details about the projects he has in mind. Bugatti's retirement doesn't come as a surprise; the company had started to shy away from setting speed records after it released the Chiron. At the time, its lost interest came as a surprise, because it had made history on several occasions by reaching jaw-dropping speeds with the Veyron. The 267-mph Super Sport variant of the car held the coveted title of the world's fastest car for years. The company spent much of 2019 celebrating its 110th birthday with special cars like the one-off La Voiture Noire unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, and the limited-edition Centodieci first shown at The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering in California. While it won't continue releasing two special projects annually in the foreseeable future, Bugatti will keep the momentum going in the coming years. "One thing is for sure: we will have a great future," Winkelmann concluded. Time will tell whether it involves a long-tail Chiron variant inspired by the record-breaking car, a long-rumored SUV, or something else entirely.

Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 57 One of One unveiled as a tribute to the past

Bugatti is building the final examples of the Chiron, which has been sold-out since 2021, and it just completed a one-of-a-kind Super Sport model inspired by one of its rarest cars. The 57 One of One stands out with heritage-laced styling cues like a grille with vertical slats. The project started as a birthday gift: a Bugatti owner surprised his wife with a Chiron build slot for her 70th birthday. She's a car enthusiast as well, and she worked with the brand to configure her Chiron as a modern interpretation of the Type 57 SC Atlantic she saw in a museum two decades ago. "I remember that day like it was yesterday. I visited the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard and there it was, one of only three cars that still remain, on a pedestal by itself. I fell in love with it from the very second I saw it," the anonymous client told Bugatti. Working directly with Bugatti's designers, the customer created a look that honors the Type 57 SC Atlantic without veering too far into retro territory. The coupe is finished in the same shade of silver-tinted blue as the original car, but recreating it nearly 90 years later was easier said than done. Jascha Straub, the lead designer for Bugatti's Sur Mesure division, traveled to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, to see the car in person and examine the color in different lights. The five-spoke wheels are finished in this distinctive shade of blue as well. Bugatti's designers and engineers came together to create a one-of-a-kind grille. On one hand, it needed to echo the one fitted to the Type 57 SC Atlantic. On the other hand, it needed to provide the airflow required to keep the 16-cylinder engine cool. The end result features 16 polished vertical slats, including a thicker one in the middle, and the Bugatti logo. It's a part that hasn't appeared on another Chiron variant. Inside, the customer chose Gaucho leather with Lightning Blue stitching. There's a "57 One of One" plaque in the center console, the Type 57 SC's silhouette stitched into the door panels, and Rembrandt Bugatti's Dancing Elephant sculpture embroidered into the headrests. Bugatti didn't make any mechanical changes to the car, meaning power comes from an 8.0-liter W16 engine that's quad-turbocharged to develop 1,577 horsepower and 1,180 pound-feet of torque. It spins the four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.