Bugatti retires W16 with special Chiron before successor revealed

The L’Ultime is limited to just 500 examples

L’Ultime marks end of hypercar's eight-year lineage; replacement confirmed to house naturally aspirated V16

Production of the Bugatti Chiron has come to an end, a month before its successor is due to be revealed.

Finishing its eight-year lineage with the Super Sport L’Ultime, the special edition, limited to 500 hand-built examples, pairs a bespoke exterior paint with commemorative badging.

This final model also marks the end of the French brand's famed W16 engine, which is set to be replaced in the Chiron's successor by a 1000bhp hybridised naturally aspirated V16.

Bugatti recently revealed the shape and layout of that engine, as well as its screaming soundtrack (below), and CEO Mate Rimac gave extra details in an interview at the Financial Times Future of the Car conference in London.

While keeping most cards close to his chest, Rimac revealed that the colossal engine goes without forced induction, unlike its W16 predecessor, which inhaled through four turbochargers. 

The engine itself, he added, will measure a whopping one-metre long in its own right – 400mm longer than the four-bank unit from the Chiron. 

Despite that, though (and the integration of a substantial electric drivetrain element), the car will be a similar shape to its predecessor, Rimac suggested. He said: "The exterior is an evolution. You can still see the very distinct Bugatti design."

Certainly, spy shots circulating the internet in recent weeks indicate that it will have a familiar silhouette, but be somewhat lower and sleeker than the Chiron it replaces.

Rimac, despite being best known for his pioneering work creating electric hypercars and supplying battery tech to a number of global car manufacturers, said he was a driving force behind bringing the V16 to fruition. 

Before his eponymous firm took over Bugatti from the Volkswagen Group, he said: "The business plan was to make an electric coupé-SUV type of thing." 

"Management was saying the next car has to be electric," he added, acknowledging that a rebadged and restyled version of the Rimac Nevera would have theoretically made a logical electric replacement for the Chiron. But maintaining differentiation between the two hypercar brands, while honouring the heritage of Bugatti, was essential. 

Rimac said: "You could very easily and convincingly make a Bugatti out of [the Nevera] – just make a different design and call it a day – but I thought that was absolutely wrong for the brand.

"Luckily, I won that argument three years ago when electrification was all the rage, which it isn't any more..." Rimac was referring to the perceived decline in demand for electric hypercars - acknowledging that his firm has still not sold all 150 Neveras. 

In addition, Rimac said, any Bugatti powerplant should be "as emotional as possible".

Referencing founder Ettore Bugatti's famous slogan, he said: "You can achieve the power figures we have with the V16 from a very highly turbocharged V8, but we wanted to have it very emotional. It has to feel special, because 'if it is comparable, it is no longer Bugatti'."  

As for that power figure, while refusing to be drawn into giving a specific number, he suggested the next Bugatti will have comfortably more than 1000bhp. Given the size of the engine and the introduction of a hybrid element, it seems likely the new car will comfortably eclipse the W16's 1587bhp maximum. 

It will be the first production car in decades to use such an engine, the last having been the ultra-rare Cizeta-Moroder V16T in 1991. 

Bugatti has not given any more details about the engine, such as its capacity, but it has revealed a preview video that gives a first taste of the noise it will make - which you can watch below. Various reports say it is 8.3 litres in capacity, and has been developed by Cosworth, though neither Bugatti nor the British firm have confirmed these details. 

The firm describes its first hybrid powertrain as "incomparable in every detail, it is a pure embodiment of Bugatti’s DNA, created not just for the present, or even the future – but 'Pour l’éternité'" - for eternity. 

Previously, it was thought that Bugatti would downsize its engine in light of the potential electric power boost provided by a hybrid drivetrain, and the need to accommodate a battery and electric motors, but clearly the firm has found a means to stay true its 16-cylinder lineage as it embraces electrification.

The firm had already told Autocar that the new powertrain would be "unlike anything else on sale" but had stopped short of revealing any technical details. 

The design of the car itself was signed off early last year, with designer Achim Anscheidt – who stepped down as Bugatti's design chief recently – telling Autocar that it will "bring forward" Bugatti into a new era while retaining signature cues such as the horseshoe grille and crescent-shaped belt line.

His replacement, Frank Heyl, promised the new car will be "even more amazing" than the Chiron. "It's going to be amazing, proportionally, technologically, in terms of innovation, in terms of unexpectedness. It's going to blow people out of the water completely, and it's a true joy to work on this.”

It is not yet confirmed whether the hybrid drivetrain will allow for engine-off running, or whether the two propulsion systems will work in tandem for maximum power output.