BUGATTI: SIMPLY INCOMPARABLE
Altitudes gets the development low-down on the new 445 km/h Bugatti Tourbillon from Director of Design Frank Heyl and CEO Mate Rimac.
Altitudes: What inspired the development of the Tourbillon, and how did the philosophy of Ettore Bugatti influence the creative studio?
Mate Rimac: The development of the Bugatti Tourbillon was guided at every step by the 115 years of Bugatti history and the words of Ettore Bugatti himself. His mantras ‘if comparable it is no longer Bugatti’ and ‘nothing is too beautiful’ were a guiding path for me personally, as well as the design and engineering teams looking to create the next exciting era in the Bugatti hyper sports car story.
Altitudes: Which historical Bugattis inspired the Tourbillon and how did their characteristics influence its design?
Mate Rimac: Icons like the Type 57SC Atlantic, renowned as the most beautiful car in the world, the Type 35, the most successful racing car ever, and the Type 41 Royale, one of the most ambitious luxury cars of all time, provide our three pillars of inspiration. Beauty, performance and luxury formed the blueprint for the Tourbillon; a car that was more elegant, more emotive and more luxurious than anything before it. Quite simply, incomparable. And just like those icons of the past, it wouldn’t be simply for the present, or even for the future, but Pour l’éternité – for eternity.
Iconic engineering: Inspired by Bugatti’s historic designs, the Tourbillon’s aesthetic is shaped by speed and aerodynamic efficiency.
Altitudes: Rimac mentioned the Type 35 and Type 57SC Atlantic as inspirations. How did these models influence the modern design and aerodynamic principles of the Tourbillon?
Frank Heyl: The creations of Ettore and Jean Bugatti are ingenious in their aerodynamics, innovation and enduring beauty. We draw from the Bugatti Type 35, where the whole shape of the car was guided by the shape of the horseshoe grille, tapering back into this streamlined fuselage shape. We find inspiration in the Type 57SC Atlantic – the S stood for Surbaissé, which essentially meant lowered – bringing down the frontal area, lowering the roofline, lowering the driver and creating this wonderful stance and proportion. That’s something that was very important for us, carefully curating the placement of volumes that are both functional but also supporting the extreme proportions of the car. If the car is lower, it looks wider and the size of the wheels are emphasized; it looks like there is tension in the muscles, a posture ready to pounce. Every design decision is geared towards creating a sense of speed even at a standstill.
Altitudes: How has the tradition of two-tone paintwork evolved in the design of the Tourbillon?
Frank Heyl: Ever since Jean Bugatti began to apply bold dual-tone paintwork to his cars, it has become an important part of Bugatti design DNA, and in the Tourbillon, we evolve it once more in an authentic but modern way. That split happens around our fourth key design element: the Bugatti line, inspired by the colour split lines of the Type 41 Royale and reborn as a core design element of both Veyron and Chiron. In-keeping with our new proportions, and lowered roofline, the Bugatti line now curves around more sharply, leaning forwards slightly as it winds its way around the roof, imbuing the side profile with a leaping motion.
Pour l’éternité: A culmination of 115 years of legacy, this hyper sports car epitomises Ettore Bugatti’s vision of incomparable beauty and performance.
Altitudes: What was the impetus behind the new model?
Mate Rimac: We look back through Bugatti history at the creations of Ettore and Jean and you can immediately see that they refused to compromise. The amount of patents Ettore had to his name was incredible, because he didn’t ever want the simplest solution, he always wanted the best solution, even if it didn’t exist yet. He’d go away and he’d build it, test it and refine it until it was perfect. And then he’d make it beautiful. It is why the cars are so revered today, and it is the driving force behind everything we have done with Tourbillon.
His (Ettore Bugatti) mantras ‘if comparable, it is no longer Bugatti’ and ‘nothing is too beautiful’ were a guiding path for me personally.
Distinctly Bugatti: The Tourbillon draws upon Bugatti’s design DNA to evolve the ’Form Follows Performance’ philosophy into a new era. These are entirely new proportions, but unmistakably Bugatti.
Altitudes: After 20 years of quad turbos, Bugatti has gone for an NA, hybrid powertrain for the Tourbillon. What was the reason behind it?
Mate Rimac: So yes, it is crazy to build a new V16 engine, to integrate with a new battery pack and electric motors and to have a real Swiss-made watchmaker instrument cluster and 3D-printed suspension parts and a Crystal Glass center console. But it is what Ettore would have done, and it is what makes a Bugatti incomparable and timeless. Without that kind of ambition, you might create a great hyper sports car, but you wouldn’t create an icon Pour l’éternité’
