Bugatti has decided to honour its racing drivers from the “golden decade” with a new edition of the Chiron Sport.
It has been dubbed the “Les Légendes du Ciel” and will be limited to just 20 units. It references many of the historic aircrafts in which Bugatti pilots gained profitable experience. In addition to the unusual colour of the paintwork, the vehicle includes a special full leather interior with hand-drawn sketches and diamond-cut aluminium.
The stand out feature is of course the special matt-grey “Gris Serpent” paintwork which is a modern interpretation of the exterior colour of the aircrafts from the 1920s. This stretches across the entire vehicle and is traversed from the front to the rear via the extending rear spoiler with a high-contrast, white gloss centre stripe. The front wings are adorned with the “Les Légendes du Ciel“ logo. The “Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge” tricolour in Blue, White and Red decorate the front area of the side sills made of exposed black carbon fibre.
The horseshoe shaped grille is finished in gloss black while the grille mesh is made of laser-cut and deep-drawn aluminum, on which the dynamic pattern of the stitched seams is repeated on the leather seats, reminiscent of planes flying in formation in an air parade.
Inside Bugatti made use of fine “Gaucho” leather for the entire vehicle interior which is light brown in colour reminiscent of natural leather in these aircraft of days gone by.
On the door panels, there is a hand-sketched racing scene between the Nieuport 17 aircraft and a Bugatti Type 13, which symbolizes the two souls honoured by the edition.
The Nieuport 17 is a very special aircraft: it is a French biplane aircraft that was built from 1916 and was very popular with its pilots due to its reliability, speed, agility and manoeuvrability. The single-seater aircraft was powered by a 9-cylinder engine that delivered up to 130 PS.
The Bugatti Type 13 is a very special vehicle in Bugatti’s history spanning 110 years. It was the first model to bear the name Bugatti. From 1910, the Type 13 impressed with its lightweight design, agility and the high output for the time of more than 15 PS. More than 110 years ago, the “Pur Sang” (thoroughbred) already reached speeds of almost 100 km/h and won many races over the following years. The vehicle laid the foundations for Bugatti’s racing success. The perlée-finish, polished aluminium of the armrest tray and the centre console insert, are also reminiscent of the historic racing cars.
“Bugatti has had close associations with aviation since the company was established more than 110 years ago. Many successful Bugatti racing drivers, such as Albert Divo, Robert Benoist and Bartolomeo ‘Meo’ Costantini, flew for the French Air Force, the French aviator legend Roland Garros privately drove a Bugatti Type 18 to be as fast on the road as in the air,” says Stephan Winkelmann, President of Bugatti. “It is therefore almost an obligation for us today to pay tribute to the legends of that time and dedicate a special edition to them.”
