A Bugatti Chiron is a statement of wealth. Assuming you get selected as a person who gets to buy one from the factory, it will set you back by at least a couple of million. More if you go for a special edition Chiron, even though it can do the same 420kph as the regular one, and there have still been plenty of iterations of those. But none has felt quite as special as this – the Chiron L’Ébé.
That’s the name given to the final three Chirons that Bugatti will make. It pays tribute to the eldest daughter of the company’s founder, Ettore Bugatti. Her biography of her father gave detailed insights about the company and the man behind it, and the current people who run the brand wanted to show their appreciation with this tribute.
Christophe Piochon, President of Bugatti Automobiles, said: “L’Ébé Bugatti’s biography of her father consists of numerous diary entries by Ettore himself, letters from his early employees, customers, business partners and her own experiences. It helps a lot to understand Ettore’s personality, his goals and the appreciation everyone had for him and his products. With this knowledge we could transmit the Bugatti DNA into the present time maintaining the essence, grade of perfection and quality standards up to this very day. Through this unique configuration and use of her name for the final Chiron and Chiron Sport, we wanted to honour her with the status she deserves in our brand’s history.”
The Chiron L’Ébe is based on the standard Chiron, while the other two will be based on the Chiron Sport. Each of these will bear unique details.
It would be insufficient to just put her name in and around the car. Bugatti had to do something truly special, in a manner typical of the brand’s fashionable reputation. So, they spent around five years developing a new gold Bugatti badge (also called the Macaron) for the grille of the Chiron L’Ébé. It is based on the usual silver Macaron found on other Chirons but is then nickel-plated in preparation before applying a layer of 24-karat gold. It is only 3-4 micrometres thick and polished for a mirror finish. The whole process takes over 10 hours.
The Macaron, or the red badge to the layman, is a pretty significant part of the brand’s identity and history. Designed by Ettore Bugatti himself and consists of the name lettering with his “EB” initials above it, and 60 red dots all around the edge.
Keeping the gold theme in mind, other areas of these last three Chirons were also given a gold finish. That includes the decorative trim around the horseshoe grille, the “EB” emblems on the exterior (on the fuel cap and at the rear), parts of the engine cover, as well as the three definitive character lines stretching from the front to the rear. The most dominant gold line on the bodywork is the central line that starts from the top edge of the horseshoe grille, goes over the roof, down the spine and to the end of the active spoiler. Even the wheels and the rear diffuser have a gold tint but it’s less shiny to not attract too much attention. The emblems for L’Ébé under the spoiler wing and on the side sills are also finished in gold.
The gold highlights contrast beautifully against the Blue Royal carbon bodywork. It’s a colour combination that is destined to look awesome, even more on a car as elegant as the Chiron.
The interior is finished in a theme of silk and lake blue with L’Ébe lettering on the headrests and in the centre console. The door panels get a little artsy with a sketch design of the Chiron, Veyron 16.4, EB 110, Type 57 SC Atlantic and Type 35.
Bugatti has not made any mechanical modifications for the special edition Chirons. They are potent with the 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 engine behind the cockpit churning out 1500PS and 1600Nm. That mountain of performance is put to the tarmac through all four wheels via a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic. No price tag has been revealed for the ChironL’Ébé, and all three will have been delivered to their customers by the end of July.
Do you also find the gold highlights of the Chiron L’Ébe to be tasteful? Let us know in the comments below, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Auto Loons blog for more cool updates from the car world. You can also follow us on Instagram for more automotive content.
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