Bugatti Chiron Sport - Les Légendes du Ciel

Bugatti is honoring its "Daredevils," famous racing drivers from the last century, with the Chiron Sport "Les Légendes du Ciel." Many of them were former flying aces, daredevils, and technically skilled pilots who flew without fear.

"Bugatti has been closely associated 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 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."

Company founder Ettore Bugatti admired his drivers' fearless character and technical expertise; who were fascinated by high speeds and mastered them. On the road, the racing drivers benefited from the experience gained in aircraft cockpits. They admired Ettore Bugatti for his talent as an engineer and were fascinated by his agile, light, and speedy vehicles, embodying on the road what their planes were in the sky. Roland Garros even called him the "incomparable artist who alone knows how to give life to steel."

Ettore Bugatti has always been inspired by aviation. In around 1915, Bugatti himself designed aircraft engines, and from 1937 he also developed an entire aircraft intended to break speed records. The project was stopped because of the outbreak of the Second World War. Ettore Bugatti kept in close personal contact with the pilots throughout his life.

The "Les Légendes du Ciel" edition
The "Les Légendes du Ciel" edition Bugatti is honoring these aviation legends with the "Les Légendes du Ciel" edition, based on the Chiron Sport and limited to 20 vehicles. The new edition references many features of the historic aircraft in which Bugatti pilots gained profitable experience. In addition to the unusual color of the paintwork, the vehicle includes a unique entire leather interior with hand-drawn sketches and diamond-cut aluminum.

Exceptional paintwork
A striking feature of the Chiron Sport "Les Légendes du Ciel" is its unique, matt-grey "Gris Serpent" paintwork, a modern interpretation of the exterior color of the aircraft 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 center stripe. The front wings are adorned with the "Les Légendes du Ciel" logo. The "Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge" tricolor in Blue, White, and Red decorates the front area of the side sills made of exposed black carbon fiber.

The horseshoe-shaped radiator grille also has a black gloss finish. The radiator 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. When the doors are opened, the door entry lights project the edition logo onto the ground. The door sills are made of brushed aluminum with the "Les Légendes du Ciel" logo on the middle console inlays also characterizes the new edition. The W16 engine cover is made of black exposed carbon fiber. These lightweight components are contrasted by white lettering. Black exposed carbon fiber and a black-coated exhaust trim body of 3D printed, high-temperature-resistant Inconel dominate the rear.

The detailed interior is almost entirely in leather.
The interior also visually evokes aircraft from the past century. Bugatti uses fine "Gaucho" leather for the entire vehicle interior of the Chiron Sport "Les Légendes du Ciel." The light brown leather is reminiscent of natural leather in these aircraft of days gone by. The raw material is contrasted only by aluminum trims, an aluminum inlay with the logo "Les Légendes du Ciel" that can also be found on the headrests, and the special edition numbering "1 of 20". Bugatti optionally offers comfortable seats and the glass roof "Sky View," through which occupants can gaze into the sky like in open-top aircraft of the past century.

On the door panels is a hand-sketched racing scene between the Nieuport 17 aircraft and a Bugatti Type 13, symbolizing the two souls honored by the edition.

The Nieuport 17 is an exceptional aircraft: it is a French biplane aircraft that was built in 1916 and was very popular with its pilots due to its reliability, speed, agility, and maneuverability. The single-seater aircraft was powered by a 9-cylinder engine that delivered up to 130 PS.

The Bugatti Type 13 is an exceptional vehicle in Bugatti's history spanning 110 years. It was the first model to bear the name Bugatti. From 1910, Type 13 was impressive with its lightweight design, agility, and high output for a 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 aluminum of the armrest tray and the center console insert is also reminiscent of historic racing cars.

The Chiron Sport, "Les Légendes du Ciel," with a W16 engine and a capacity of 8.0 liters, delivers 1,500 PS and 1,600-newton meters of torque. Its maximum speed is electronically limited to 420 km/h. Bugatti will start production of the Chiron Sport "Les Légendes du Ciel" towards the end of 2020. The edition, limited to 20 units, costs 2.88 million euros net each.