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Mullin Museum closing after 14 years showcasing amazing vehicles

More sad news to start the year is that the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California, is closing in two weeks. Founder Peter Merlin opened the museum in 2010 with a mission "to educate guests about 20th-century French automotive styling and design." This was done beautifully — literally and figuratively — with a focus on vehicles spanning from the Brass Era (1896-1915) to the early postwar period, some taken from Peter Mullins' personal collection. The heavy focus was on French automakers during the interwar period, Art Deco to the Machine Age (1918-1941), namely, Bugatti, Delage, Delahaye, Talbot-Lago, and Voisin, supported with automobilia, sculpture, a theater, and archives.    A lot of enthusiasts might not be familiar with the museum, but the fingerprints of founder Peter Mullin and wife Merle can be found throughout the car world. Peter, who died last September, had amassed the world's largest private collection of Bugattis. Back when a $40 million vehicle sale was enough to be crowned a record sum, Mullin opened his museum with the display of the record-breaking 1936 Bugatti 57SC Atlantic, on loan from the purchaser. He won Best in Show at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance with his own 1934 Voisin C-25 Aerodyne. The museum put on the shows you'd expect of a private Bugatti collector, like Art of Bugatti in 2014; shows you'd expect of a Francophile institution, like "Citroen: The Man, The Marque, The Mystique" in 2017; and surprises like last year's "ArTexture" exhibit of fine art and tapestries by artist Keith Collins. And he was one of the founding board members of the Petersen Automotive Museum, helping the museum through the renovation that turned it into one of the coolest car spots in LA.     Speaking of which, four of Mullins' personal rides will go on permanent display at the Petersen: a 1937 Talbot-Lago T150 CS “Teardrop,” a 1938 Delahaye 145, a 1938 Hispano Suiza H6B Dubonnet Xenia, and a 1939 Delahaye 165. The museum is only open on Saturdays and Sundays, its last day open being Saturday, February 10 — leaving three more visits for anyone who can make it. Said Merle, who continued keep sharing the collection at shows from Amelia Island to Villa d'Este during Peter's illness, wrote in a statement on the closing, "Sharing these ‘rolling sculpturesÂ’ and beautiful art with others was PeterÂ’s truest passion, and the museum helped bring that vision to life.

The 500th and final Bugatti Chiron is a tribute to the model's beginnings

It's the end of the road for the Bugatti Chiron. Limited to 500 units globally, the W16-powered coupe entered production in 2016, set a top-speed record, and spawned several models. The final Chiron was built in May 2024, but the French brand will soon unveil what comes next. Bugatti named the final Chiron "L'Ultime," which translates to "the last one" in French. It's a Super Sport model whose livery is inspired by the first Chiron shown to the public when the model was announced at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show. It's finished in Atlantic Blue and French Racing Blue, like the show car, but the colors blend into each other; they were separated by hand-polished aluminum trim on the show car displayed in Switzerland. The color split extends to the wheels, and the grille wears a blue Bugatti emblem created specifically for the model. The name of places that helped shape the Chiron's career appear on both sides of the last example built. Paul Ricard is the track in the south of France where Bugatti tested pre-production prototypes, for example. Geneva is where the Chiron was presented to the public, and Ehra-Lessien is the German test track where the Chiron became the first car to cross the 300-mph barrier. It reached precisely 304.773 mph. 2024 Bugatti Chiron l'Ultime View 22 Photos More subtle design details further identify L'Ultime as the final Chiron built. The center caps feature "500/500" logos while "#500" appears ahead of both wheel arches — that's number 500, not hashtag 500. Bugatti notes that this livery was created at the request of a customer. Inside, there's Deep Blue leather upholstery and carbon fiber trim. The "#500" logo appears on the center console, while the seats and the steering wheel get blue, white, and red stitching as a tribute to the French flag. Bugatti's historic home is in Molsheim, in northern France. There's no word on where the final Chiron is off to. It might end up tucked away in a private museum, or you might spot it at the next cars and coffee gathering. As for what's next, we won't have to wait long to find out. The company, which is controlled by Croatia-based Rimac, confirmed that the Chiron's successor will ditch the W16 engine that also powered the Veyron and instead use a new V16 engine designed in-house. The 16-cylinder will work jointly with some kind of hybrid drivetrain, though full technical details haven't been released yet.

Bugatti Chiron successor prototype spotted in full profile under camo

When Bugatti teased the new V16 that will go into the successor to the Chiron, the early word was that the new coupe would still be recognizable as a Bugatti. We have Top Gear to thank for proof, the magazine scoring an image of a prototype and posting it to X. The design trademarks are there — low nose rising to hug the front wheels, the C graphic along the side, thin light bar stretched across the rear, and a whopping deployable wing. Looks like the new monocoque underneath has been lowered and stretched compared to the current car, though. The front overhang is longer, the curve of the C has been pulled back like a bow string at the top, and there's a noticeably larger span of sheetmetal between the diagonal of the C and the rear wheel arch. Also, that C design element cuts higher through the side of the car, about two-thirds of the way down the door instead of just above the rocker panel. And it's tough to make out details through the camo, but the doors have new lines, too.  This is your first look at BugattiÂ’s V16-engined successor to the Chiron. WeÂ’ve got hold of a spy shot of BugattiÂ’s next hypercar, and it looksÂ… colourful -> https://t.co/swGT4wu3St pic.twitter.com/RMmfcJkp6c — Top Gear (@BBC_TopGear) April 26, 2024 In back, the current horizontal line of a taillight is curved in two dimensions to follow the coupe's rear edge. The latter third of the car gives us Super Sport vibes, the standard Chiron variant that channeled the Super Sport 300+ created to hit 300 miles per hour, especially in the rear diffuser area.           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Car Design World (@cardesignworld) Part of the extra length could be about fitting the new hybrid and quad-turbocharged V16 powertrain. The Chiron's yet-unnamed successor will use a plug-in hybrid system, Rimac-Bugatti previously describing the power unit as "heavily electrified." This suggests (though nothing is official) that the model will be capable of running on electricity alone for relatively short distances. If other super sports cars are useful indicators, all-electric running might last no longer than ten kilometers or so. Rumors about that the ICE portion is an 8.3-liter unit developed with the help of Cosworth, aided by three electric motors that make 335 horsepower apiece. That suggests not only appreciably more horsepower than the 1,578 in the Chiron, but all-wheel drive.