The 99th and final Bugatti W16 Mistral has left the Atelier in Molsheim, marking the end of production of the quad-turbocharged 8.0-litre W16 engine that powered every Bugatti road car since the Veyron's debut in 2005The last car is finished in Pearl and Sparkle, with Ettore Bugatti's signature across the cabin, a Lalique crystal armrest, and a falcon head gear shift, a deeply personal commission built for a client in the Middle EastThe W16 Mistral's production closes just days after Bugatti inaugurated La Manufacture, the atelier being built to produce the Tourbillon, the next chapter, powered by a new V16 It started on a bullet train. Ferdinand Piëch, then Chairman of the Volkswagen Group, was riding the Shinkansen across Japan when he began sketching an engine, an 18-cylinder naturally aspirated monster assembled from three Volkswagen VR6 blocks. The sketch was the beginning of a thought that would eventually become the most defining powerplant in modern hypercar history. Not the W18 he drew, which was eventually abandoned after producing a meagre 547 hp from its 6.2-litre displacement, but the forced-induction W16 that replaced it. An 8.0-litre quad-turbocharged engine with 16 cylinders arranged in a W configuration, first tested in 2001, and first seen by the public in the Veyron 16.4 in 2005. Read More Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Returns in 2026 On July 16, 2026, the last car powered by that engine left the Bugatti Atelier in Molsheim. It was the 99th W16 Mistral.The W16's road car career ran from 2005 to the day that the final Mistral cleared the factory doors, 21 years, across two full model generations and a collection of derivatives that grew more extreme with each iteration. The Veyron 16.4 hit 253 mph in standard form. The Veyron Super Sport reached 267 mph. The Chiron extended that further, and the Chiron Super Sport 300+ broke the 300-mph barrier in 2019, the first production car to do so, at 304 mph. The Mistral, Bugatti's open-top farewell to the engine, set its own record in November 2024: Bugatti Pilote Officiel Andy Wallace drove a specially developed World Record Car to 453.91 km/h, 282 mph, at ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg, making it the fastest open-top production car in the world. That car was handed over to its owner at the Silverstone Grand Prix earlier this year. The Mistral was never supposed to exist. Bugatti had not planned a Chiron roadster. When the decision was made to give the W16 a proper open-air send-off, the company launched a crash development programme that produced the car in nine months. It debuted at Monterey Car Week in 2022, was priced at $5 million, and all 99 examples were spoken for. Read More BMW's $17 Billion Promise to America Is Now Complete The 99th example to leave Molsheim is a commission built for a client in the Middle East, handled through Bugatti Riyadh. Its exterior wears Pearl and Sparkle, a two-tone combination that sits quietly against the drama of what it represents. Inside, Magnolia leather meets Grey Carbon Matt, and Ettore Bugatti's signature is stitched into the headrests, rendered in aluminium along the door sills, and reimagined on the engine cover's inner trim, in place of the usual Bugatti script. The armrest plate was created in collaboration with Lalique, cast in frozen crystal glass and titled 'Spirit of the Wind,' it references the long-standing relationship between Bugatti and Lalique that began with Ettore Bugatti and René Lalique themselves. In place of the standard elephant sculpture, a falcon head sits atop the gear shift, an animal of significance in the client's home region. A dedication plate inside reads 'the last of its kind.' It binds the car to the mantra the W16 Mistral carried from its first unveiling. Just three days before this final Mistral was completed, Bugatti held the inauguration of La Manufacture, the new atelier in Molsheim built to produce the Tourbillon, the hypercar that succeeds everything the W16 era built. The Tourbillon still carries 16 cylinders, but they are now arranged in a V, not a W. The quad-turbocharged layout is gone, replaced by a naturally aspirated 8.3-litre V16 paired with three electric motors for a combined output of 1,800 hp. The engine was developed with Cosworth. La Manufacture is ready. The Tourbillon is coming. The W16 will not return. In 25 years, it powered Bugatti from revival to record and back again, from Piëch's sketch on a Japanese train to 304 mph on a closed German circuit to an open-top roadster setting its own speed record in the final chapter. Ninety-nine Mistrals. Every one of them is different, every one of them is final in their own way. And now the last of them is gone.
