THE TROUBLE with any Bugatti is legibility. Sure, they are fast; a modified Chiron set a series production road-car record of 304.7 mph in 2019. But the badges are so small and they go by so quickly. How are people supposed to read that?
And thus the Chiron Pur Sport’s extraordinary fixed rear wing, a carbon-fiber scimitar emblazoned with the word. Also, should anyone wonder how many cylinders, the Pur Sport has “16” stenciled on its horse collar-shaped, 3D-printed grillwork—a charismatic touch drawn from the company’s racing history, if a little, um, AutoZone-y, in this presentation. Maybe uncheck that box.
Whenever I encounter one of these cars in the real world, away from the auto-show stand, I am struck by their dual moral status. They are dazzling objects, scintillant with human ingenuity, sublime in craft and overwhelming in effect, like a pipe organ at point-blank range.
But the clientele? As I watched our Pur Sport tester being unloaded, I hoped it would one day become the cherished centerpiece of an aficionado’s collection. But I won’t be surprised if, six months from now, it is halfway up a lamppost on Tverskaya Street and the owner’s ocelot is missing.
Bugatti will build only 60 of these brilliantly engineered codpieces, to order, and sell them for between $3.6 to $5 million.
