Is a regular Chiron too common for your liking? Well, the one-of-one Bugatti Chiron Profilée elevates the Franco-German marque to a new level of exclusivity.
The Bugatti Chiron won’t be around for much longer, but before this W16-powered behemoth kicks the bucket, there’s still time for one final reinvention.
Truth be told, this exact car – known as the Bugatti Chiron Profilée – isn’t a new design. However, until now, Bugatti has kept it firmly under wraps. As such, the surrounding mystique and exclusivity has earned it a truly astonishing price tag.
The History Behind the Bugatti Chiron Profilée
The idea behind the Bugatti Chiron Profilée was to offer every dynamic feature found in the extreme Chiron Pur Sport, but package them within a more ‘discreet’, less aggressive body. In fact, by Bugatti’s brutalist standards, this Profilée’s design is borderline beautiful.
Anyway, the Pur Sport received an unexpected amount of interest from the world’s wealthiest punters, and so, Bugatti cancelled plans for a more outwardly reserved sibling. But, by that point, the company had already built one fully homologated demo car.
Now, as part of the Chiron’s send-off, Bugatti have not only revealed the Profilée to the public, but they’ve also released it into private hands. Yep, this one-of-one special Chiron has been auctioned off to a very wealthy bidder.
The Profilée’s Performance Credentials
There are a few things that the Pur Sport, and therefore the Profilée, have up their sleeve that stand out from regular Chirons. The 1480PS 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 engine remains the same, however, its seven-speed Ricardo-built transmission offers 15% shorter gear ratios. In practice, that translates to a 0-62mph time of 2.3 seconds (0.2 quicker than normal). Interestingly though, because the Profilée doesn’t have anywhere near as much draggy aero as the Pur Sport, its top speed is 18mph higher (235mph).
Handling-wise, the Profilée has an identical chassis to the Pur Sport, meaning stiffer coilovers compared to the normal Chiron, and an array of geometry changes.
Overall then, there’s a suggestion that the Bugatti Chiron Profilée may well be the car’s ultimate iteration. Certainly, that’ll go part of the way as to explaining why it fetched €9,792,500 (approximately $10.6m/£8.7m) at RM Sotheby’s recent Paris auction. For context, that makes it the most expensive new car to ever sell under the hammer.
Realistically though, this special vehicle is likely to spend the rest if its days locked up in a private collection. And to us, that seems like an almighty shame.
