Bugatti Chiron roadster could be in the works

Regular reversals make it hard to tell what Bugatti will do next. In 2018, the Molsheim, France-based carmaker said it wouldn't go after the 300-mph mark, screaming from the mountaintop that would be "missing a big part of what the [Chiron] is all about." Not even a year later, a modestly reformed Chiron reached 304.773 mph at Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien test track, the feat spun into the $5.19M Chiron Super Sport 300+ and, more recently, the $580,000 Jacob Twin Turbo Furious 300+ wristwatch. In 2019, Bugatti said "There will be no SUV." Eight months later, Bugatti revealed it had already designed a crossover, and that "some potential customers have seen it, and they liked it."

If The Supercar Blog is correct, we could have another take-back on our hands. In 2016, Bugatti pronounced the Chiron would get "no roadster or convertible" version. Since then, the closest accommodation the Chiron makes to open-air motoring is the fixed Sky View roof panels. But TSB sources told the outlet "Bugatti does intend to build" a Chiron roadster. It's not clear if this would be a one-off like the La Voiture Noire or a limited run like the Divo or Centodieci, but TSB states Bugatti is "reportedly gauging interest in a one-of-a-kind open-top variant."

A one-off roofless screamer is one of Bugatti CEO Stephan Winkelmann's go-to maneuvers, though. When Winkelmann ran Lamborghini, he commissioned designers to work up the Aventador J roadster for the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, later selling the car's birth as a customer commission. The following year, he presided over the creation of the single-seater, targa-top Egoista for the brand's 50th anniversary. Bugatti has a much deeper roadster tradition than Lamborghini, offering plenty of material to pull from that designers have so far barely mined.

With a rumored price of ˆ9 million ($10.1M U.S.), Bugatti's roofless hypercar wouldn't be a 'mere' targa-ficiation of the Chiron mimicking the Veyron Grand Sport. The asking price is a nice condominium beyond the ˆ8 million ($8.9M U.S.) sought for the Centodieci, the EB110 homage limited to ten units, and a good deal less than the $18.7M sum needed for the La Voiture Noire.  

If there's any truth to this, guesswork says Bugatti's either doing up a roofless roadster in the vein of the Bentley Bacalar or a speedster in the Ferrari SP1 mold. More detail than that will need to wait until another source pipes up, or Bugatti decides to drop hints. When Robb Report asked the automaker for comment, Bugatti responded "that the story is just a rumor."

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By Jonathon Ramsey