Bugatti may be preparing to do something few would have expected from a modern hypercar manufacturer: pair its new V16 engine with a proper manual gearbox.
Manual transmissions have started making an unlikely return at the very top end of the performance car market, and Bugatti CEO Mate Rimac has now made it clear that the French marque is interested in joining the movement.
Mate Rimac Wants A Proper Manual Bugatti
Speaking during Monterey Car Week, Rimac was asked whether there was room in Bugatti’s future for a car equipped with a manual transmission.
His response left very little room for interpretation. Rimac enthusiastically backed the idea and specifically raised the prospect of combining Bugatti’s V16 engine with a genuine manual gearbox.
That does not confirm a production model is on the way, but it does reveal that the idea is being seriously entertained at the highest level within Bugatti.
Could The Bugatti Tourbillon Get Three Pedals?
The obvious candidate is the Bugatti Tourbillon.
Bugatti’s new flagship combines a naturally aspirated 8.3-litre V16 with three electric motors for a combined 1,775 hp (1,324 kW). As currently configured, power is handled by an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission rather than anything involving a clutch pedal.
Rimac did not reveal whether a manual gearbox could eventually find its way into a Tourbillon derivative, a future production model or something considerably more exclusive.
Considering how technically complicated the Tourbillon’s hybrid powertrain is, integrating a traditional manual transmission would be a serious engineering exercise. Bugatti, however, is hardly known for choosing the easy route.
Programme Solitaire Could Be The Perfect Starting Point
One possibility is Bugatti’s ultra-exclusive Programme Solitaire.
The coachbuilding division gives selected customers access to completely bespoke Bugatti creations, making it an obvious environment in which to experiment with something as unusual as a manual V16.
Programme Solitaire has already produced several spectacular one-offs, including the Brouillard and the recently revealed Destrier, which uses the track-focused Bolide as its starting point.
Once Tourbillon-based Solitaire commissions begin appearing, a three-pedal V16 could become one of the most desirable modern Bugattis imaginable.
The only downside would be exclusivity. If Bugatti does engineer a manual transmission for its V16, limiting it to a single one-off would leave plenty of collectors wishing the company had built a few more.
Bugatti Wants A ‘Real’ Manual
Perhaps the most interesting detail is Rimac’s emphasis on the idea of a genuine manual transmission.
That distinction matters as manufacturers explore different ways of recreating the involvement of a traditional gearbox without necessarily connecting the driver mechanically to the transmission.
Bugatti appears to be interested in the old-fashioned solution: a clutch pedal, an actual gear lever and a driver responsible for changing gears.
In a hypercar producing four-figure horsepower, that would be a very different experience from the lightning-fast dual-clutch systems that have dominated this end of the market for years.
A Manual V16 Bugatti Would Be Something Truly Special
There is no confirmation that a manual Bugatti has been approved for production, so for now this remains an intriguing possibility rather than an upcoming model.
Still, comments like these coming directly from Mate Rimac carry weight.
Bugatti has already gone against industry trends by developing a naturally aspirated V16 for the Tourbillon at a time when downsizing and electrification dominate the conversation. Adding a traditional manual transmission would push that philosophy even further.
If Bugatti can make a V16 hybrid hypercar with three pedals work properly, it could produce one of the most memorable driver’s cars of the modern era.