Like most automakers, from, well, the dawn of the modern auto industry, Bugatti develops experimental vehicles and prototypes to explore anything from future design directions to possible additions to their range, most of which, remain hidden, not only from public view, but knowledge too. But every once in a blue moon, they share with us these secret exploratory plans that never materialized for one reason or the other.
Now, it’s Bugatti’s turn to show us three wild concepts that they’ve worked on in the recent past and which could have spawned new production cars (but didn’t).
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To be very clear, these were just proposals that never materialized past the internal concept phase and were consequently abandoned, as a Bugatti executive told CarScoops: “This is just a story about concept cars that never saw the light of day, and it shows that plans for a second model line have always existed at Bugatti (beyond EB112 and Galibier) and not just in the 1920s and 30s. No other link to the present or future exists.”
The roofless Bugatti Veyron Barchetta
The first of the previously-unseen Bugatti concepts is the Veyron Barchetta, created by the head of Bugatti’s design department, Achim Anscheidt, way back in 2008. The vehicle was based on a Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse but adorned with all-new bodywork and a Speedster-like wraparound windshield. Interestingly, some of the concept’s looks, most notably its headlights, have gone on to feature on the limited-run Bugatti Divo, based around the current Chiron.
According to Autoblog, who spoke with Anscheidt about the Bugatti Veyron Barchetta, the company’s top executives were reluctant to adopt a similar business model to Lamborghini in launching such limited-run models at the time.
The reborn Bugatti Atlantic Concept
Many years after the Veyron Barchetta, Bugatti envisioned a three-model line-up and designed two new concepts, one to slot below the Chiron in its family and one to sit above the record-breaking hypercar. The first of these concepts was the Atlantic, created in 2015 as a modern-day version of the 1936 Type 57 Atlantic. It was scheduled to be unveiled at Pebble Beach that year. However, the whole dieselgate saga happened soon after and the debut was canceled.
Bugatti spent 18 months developing the Atlantic employing some of the technology from the Porsche Taycan project, which was then known as the Mission E. It likely would have been sold with a twin-turbo V8, Top Gear reports, as well as with an electric drivetrain. It also would have been sold in both coupe and roadster guises.
The Bugatti W16 Coupe ‘Rembrandt’
Then came the most ambitious concept of them all, the Bugatti W16 Coupe ‘Rembrandt’. Pictured as a front-engined GT with the same 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16 engine of the Chiron, the W16 Coupe could have topped out the Bugatti family and feature nothing but bespoke parts. It borrows some styling from the Veyron Barchetta, such as the headlights, while also featuring some elements later found on the one-off Bugatti La Voiture Noire, most notably the LED taillights.
Building the near 1,500 hp Bugatti W16 Coupe ‘Rembrandt’ would have been exorbitantly expensive and each could have demanded a price tag north of $20 million.
