The Bugatti Divo has been revealed as the Bugatti Chiron’s mad younger brother, able to go round corners quicker and costing twice as much.
Stephan Winkelmann, now president of Bugatti, has brought his penchant for magicking new cars out of existing cars at Lamborghini to create the Bugatti Divo, a car that has no rationale beyond making money and pitched it as the most exclusive car in the world. And it’s worked.Just 40 Divos are being built and every single one is already sold. And the only buyers Bugatti would entertain are those who already own a Chiron. So the insane price of €5 million (that’s £6.0 million in the UK when you add VAT) is really 50 per cent more as you have to have bought a Chiron first.
Winkelmann has been clever enough to delve in to Bugatti’s history for the Divo name – Albert Divo was a two-time Targa Florio winner for Bugatti in the Twenties – and has effectively revived Bugatti’s in-house coachbuilding history in the process to create the Divo. So there’s more than a veneer of credibility.
With its bespoke bodywork and new aerodynamics the Divo does look new, with a new front end, big air intakes, skinny LED headlights, wide front spoiler, ‘air curtain’ and vanes and ducts ploughing huge quantities of air to cool the enormous temperatures generated by brakes and engine.
There’s also a big adjustable rear spoiler, with an air duct on the roof to improve efficiency and braking, and spectacular rear lights with 44 fins.
Under all this is the same 1,479bhp 8.0 litre W16 engine as the Chiron, using the same seven-speed DSG ‘box sending the enormous power to all four wheels and enough, say Bugatti, to drive the Divo to 62mph in 2.4 seconds and on to 236mph.
That, you will note, is a chunk lower top speed than the Chiron, but the Divo is about dynamics rather than outright speed, so it gets chassis and suspension tweaks to deliver a more agile and dynamic ride which culminates in a Nardo lap time some eight seconds faster than the Chiron.
Does it all add up to a car worth twice as much as a Chiron? No, of course it doesn’t. But in the rarified world where £5m is pocket change, it’s enough to deliver £200 million in to Bugatti’s bank account.
Which, we have to say, seems the main motivation for the Divo’s existence.






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