Bugatti Brouillard: Programme Solitaire’s first creation, and possibly its greatest
Bugatti has always been an overachieving brand in the hypercar playground, smashing speed records, flexing its signature quad-turbocharged W16 despite electrification looming, and casually rolling out bespoke creations like the Type 57 One of One, Centodieci, Bijan Veyron, and the stunning Golden Era Chiron. Stunning, all of them. But when it comes to bespokeness – yes, that’s a word now – the latest creation is on another level.
This one comes courtesy of Programme Solitaire, Bugatti’s one-of-one division for the ultra-wealthy. It’s the place you go when speed doesn’t tickle you and you want something truly personal and bespoke that even owners of other Bugatti models stop to give an approving nod.
What emerged from the programme that lets clients create their own Bugattis virtually from scratch is truly out of this world, and we can’t help but wish it were our own. It’s called the Brouillard, named after Ettore Bugatti’s favourite horse, and it’s built on the final version of the famous W16 platform. This means it features a carbon fibre chassis, an aluminium chassis and a quad-turbocharged W16 engine with 1,176kW. Epic.
If the Brouillard gives you a sense of nostalgia, that’s because it’s heavily influenced by the Mistral mid-engine 2-seater. In fact, everything, from a design perspective, looks like it was borrowed from it. You’ve got those slim horizontal LED strips, an arrow-shaped rear light, and the illuminated Bugatti script front and back. However, there’s a catch. Where the Mistral prefers to let your hair fly free in a convertible, the Brouillard keeps things a touch more under control with a fixed glass panel.
Inside, a lot is going on. For starters, there are horse motifs stitched into the door panels and seat backs, custom-woven tartan fabrics laced with green-tinted carbon fibre, and machined aluminium almost everywhere, complete with a gear shifter housing a glass capsule encasing a finely sculpted tribute to Ettore’s horse. Even the seats have been sculpted to the owner’s exact body shape, finished in a bespoke leather patchwork that we think you won’t find anywhere else on the planet.
And speaking of the owner, this isn’t just someone who’s wealthy and has a craving for more performance. No, they’re a devout Bugatti devotee who not only collects both modern and vintage Bugattis but also surrounds themselves with the ornate furniture of Carlo Bugatti and the evocative bronze animal sculptures of Rembrandt Bugatti. Now you get why we say the Brouillard is a perfect and true work of art.
According to Bugatti, it plans to create a maximum of only two models of the Brouillard each year, with this particular model earmarked to make its grand premiere at Monterey Car Week. Judging by the images alone, we’re already giving it a standing ovation… Though, truth be told, we’re not exactly ready to hear about the price tag. We’d rather just admire it from a distance.