Bugatti Tourbillon

Here are some of Bugatti’s rejected designs for the Tourbillon

Plus: what was a McLaren F1 doing on the designer’s mood board?

New Bugatti hypercars don’t come along every day – more like once a decade really – so when you’re signing off the design of a brand new one, you’d best be sure you’ve picked the right proposal.

In a recent video Bugatti has shown a behind-the-scenes glimpse at a meeting between the top brass of its design and engineering departments, plus overall boss Mate Rimac. And if you look very closely, you can spot a few potential Tourbillon designs that didn’t make the final cut.

The full video is below, but to save you getting trigger-happy with the pause button we’ve freeze-framed the clips you need to see in the gallery.

One of the designs features extremely slender headlights with a broken-up horizontal running light. There’s also a smaller, more angular front ‘horseshoe’ grille than the Tourbillon eventually got, and more ornate side skirts.

 
The Bugatti Tourbillon has been on tour to Japan, and here are the pics

And Singapore, too. Happy Monday

Like all self-respecting famous rock stars, the Bugatti Tourbillon is on a world tour, and the latest stop is one of the coolest: it’s been to Japan. Which means this V16-engined hypertoy is currently in a country fond of [checks notes] minivans and kei cars and the world’s coolest car culture.

And like all self-respecting famous rock stars on tour, it’s doing all the big sights. First stop: some dealerships! Naturally, once its business duties were done, it then headed off into the forests of Tochigi – specifically, Wakatake no Mori.

It also found time to swing by the Kashihara Jingu Shrine – a monument that dates back to 1868 – while at the other end of the Japan Scale, it also popped into Akihabara, Tokyo’s tech district brimmed with neon and bustling with energy.

“With over 25 Bugatti models already gracing Japanese roads, the country has cemented itself as a significant home for the brand,” said Bugatti president Christophe Piochon.

 
The Bugatti Tourbillon has been holidaying in China, and it looks most excellent

Anyone for a strong dose of jealousy on a gloomy Wednesday afternoon?

It seems the Bugatti Tourbillon’s big fat holiday is still going on: having spent the tail-end of last year in Japan and Singapore, the V16-engined hypercar has now popped over to China.

Its adventure began in Shanghai, where the Tourbillon was positioned beside The Bund - a waterfront area which overlooks the skyscraper-packed metropolis of Pudong.

Journeying southward, the Tourbillon then found itself in some of Hong Kong’s best sites. Those include the historical Lin Fa Temple, built as an ode to the Chinese goddess Kwun Yam, before making its way to the West Kowloon district to see the sun setting over the sprawling urban skyline. Yeah, jealous.

Given the first Tourbillon customer deliveries are only expected in 2026, the Chiron’s successor may continue the Asian leg of its tour for a while yet. We hear Bali’s rather lovely if you’re asking us to join, Bugatti.

 
Holy heck, the V16-engined Bugatti Tourbillon sounds incredible: listen to it here

“This is how the production car will sound,” says boss Mate Rimac. Goodie

This, according to Bugatti boss Mate Rimac, is what the V16-engined Tourbillon will sound like. It is but a short clip of a Tourbillon prototype wearing funky camouflage having some fun at a circuit, and it sounds nothing short of... lightly soul-affirming.

“Hopefully we can keep it soft-limiter free,” Rimac said in the social media post. Fingers crossed, because the Tourbillon’s engine is rated to 9,000rpm. Developed by Cosworth, the 8.3-litre 16-cylinder behemoth makes a whopping 986bhp on its own.

That’s then matched to another 789bhp from a triplet of electric motors – two up front and one out back – to kick out 1,775bhp in total. Feels like enough. Sounds like more than enough.

“What a car,” Rimac added on the post. “I don’t think we understand yet what we have built. This will be one for the history books.”


 
The stunning new Bugatti Tourbillon Équipe Pur Sang gets EIGHT exhaust pipes

Eight exhausts is silly, but a fun silly. Is Bugatti getting a sense of humour?

This is the stunning new Bugatti Tourbillon Équipe Pur Sang. That, apparently, translates as ‘thoroughbred team’, though it should really translate as ‘hot wheels’, because the rear profile of this V16 powerhouse is quite something to behold.

Count ‘em: that’s eight exhaust pipes sticking out the back of Bugatti’s automotive thunderclap, part of a suite of enhancements to an already ridiculously enhanced motor car. It’s meant to draw a line from Bugatti’s historic motorsport victories to now.

What it does is draw a line between SeriousBugatti and FunBugatti. Nobody needs eight exhaust pipes. Heck, we’re sure Bugatti’s engineering artisans probably could have done away with an exhaust altogether, but under Mate Rimac’s leadership, it appears fun is back on the menu.

Oh, it’s still Serious alright, because that custom-built, eight-pipe setup is but the flourish. There’s a new front splitter, a new rear diffuser, and a bespoke new rear wing with small endplates that give the mighty Tourbillon better stability through high-speed cornering, better aero efficiency, and most importantly, better stance.


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