Bugatti has built its last W16 Mistral. The 99th and final example has rolled out of the atelier in Molsheim, bringing to a close not just a model line but an entire engine era. The W16 (a quad-turbocharged, 16-cylinder unit that has defined Bugatti for two decades) will not power another road car.
A Record-Holding Send-Off
The Mistral’s production story began at Monterey Car Week in 2022, when Bugatti unveiled the open-top roadster as the W16’s final expression. Before series production started in early 2025, the car earned a fitting credential: in November 2024, Bugatti Pilote Officiel Andy Wallace drove a one-off World Record Car to 453.91 km/h (282 mph) at ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg in Germany.
That run made the W16 Mistral the fastest open-top production car in the world. It is the kind of number that is difficult to contextualise, suffice to say, no roadster has gone faster with the roof down. The World Record Car was subsequently handed over to its owner at the Silverstone Grand Prix earlier this year.
The Final Car
The last Mistral to leave Molsheim carries a dedication plate inscribed with the phrase The last of its kind, paired with a silhouette of the car itself. Its exterior combines Pearl and Sparkle finishes, with a Magnolia and Grey Carbon Matt interior.
The design reaches back to the founding ambition of the W16: Ferdinand Piëch’s vision of a car capable of exceeding 400 km/h that could still deliver its driver to the opera the same evening. Ettore Bugatti’s signature appears stitched into the headrests, rendered in aluminium along the door sills, and on the engine cover’s inner trim, a deliberate tribute to the man who established the brand in Molsheim in 1909.
A collaboration with Lalique produced an armrest plate cast in frozen crystal glass, titled Spirit of the Wind, referencing the long-standing relationship between the two houses. In place of Bugatti’s usual elephant sculpture, a falcon head sits atop the gear shift, a personal detail requested by the customer, who is based in the Middle East, and arranged through Bugatti Riyadh.
Bespoke to the End
Across the full production run, no two Mistrals were identical. Bugatti’s Sur Mesure personalisation programme worked directly with each of the 99 customers throughout 2025 and into 2026. One recent result was the W16 Mistral Blanc Éternel, a one-off commission developed in collaboration with Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin, blending digital design with traditional porcelain craft.
That level of individual attention is unusual even by hypercar standards, and it reflects how Bugatti has positioned the Mistral: not as a volume product, but as a collector’s object shaped around its owner.
What Comes Next
Bugatti has not detailed what engine will power its next generation of cars. The completion of Mistral production coincides closely with the opening of La Manufacture, Bugatti’s new facility, which the brand says sets the tone for what follows.
For now, the W16 is done. Ninety-nine roadsters, each unique, each carrying a piece of an engine that redefined what a production car could do. That is not a bad way to go out.
