Bugatti Builds Its Final W16 Hypercar, Ending a 21-Year Journey
Bugatti has built its last car powered by the W16 engine before the V16 era begins.
Bugatti was founded in 1909 by Ettore Bugatti, and the brand has been associated with speed and engineering precision for over a century. The Veyron, launched in 2005, was the first production car to use a W16 engine and set a new speed benchmark for a modern hypercar.
The car marking the W16 final chapter is the 99th and last Mistral, an open-top hypercar built on the Chiron platform. Bugatti named it “The Last of Its Kind” and finished it in a two-tone Pearl and Sparkle paint scheme. The interior features Magnolia and Grey Carbon Matt trim, and Ettore Bugatti’s signature appears on the headrests, door sills, and engine cover.
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The Mistral was first shown at Monterey Car Week in 2022. Before customer deliveries began, the car toured several markets, including Japan, Singapore, Riyadh, and Dubai. Full production started in early 2025, and each of the 99 units was built to the individual buyer’s specifications.
The W16 itself is a quad-turbocharged, 8.0-liter engine. After the Veyron, it went on to power the Chiron and the Bolide, a track-only model limited to 40 units, all of which were completed by November 2025.
The Bugatti Bolide used the most powerful version of the W16, producing 1,361 kilowatts and 1,849 newton-meters of torque without any electric assistance. Over 21 years, the W16 became one of the most powerful production car engines ever built.
Every Mistral undergoes a rigorous testing process before it reaches its owner. Bugatti puts each car through 248.5 miles (400 kilometers) of testing and drives it to 186 mph (300 km/h) at Colmar Airport in France. Three test drivers, chosen specifically for this task, confirm that each car meets the company’s standards before handover.
The Mistral also holds a world record.
In November 2024, Bugatti test driver Andy Wallace drove a one-off Mistral to 282 mph (453.91 km/h) at a test facility in Papenburg, Germany. That run made the Mistral the fastest open-top production car in the world.
Bugatti is not dumping the W16. Through a program called ‘Programme Solitaire’, the company will continue to build a small number of one-off or limited-edition cars with the W16 engine at a rate of two cars per year. Two projects have already been completed under this program:
- Chiron-based Brouillard
- Veyron-inspired FKP Hommage.
Bugatti’s next model is the Tourbillon, a hybrid hypercar with a naturally aspirated 8.4-liter V16 built by Cosworth and three electric motors. Production is limited to 250 units and has not yet begun. The company recently opened a new factory, called La Manufacture, that can build up to 200 cars a year, to prepare for it. This facility will likely support future Bugatti models beyond the Tourbillon as well.
The end of the W16 also lines up with a change in ownership. After 28 years under the Volkswagen Group, Bugatti is now moving forward under Rimac Group leadership, with Mate Rimac at the helm. The combination of a new owner, a new engine, and a new factory marks one of the biggest transitions in the brand’s history.
