By any measure, the Bugatti Divo is already a marvel of engineering. However this explicit instance chassis # VF9SD3V34LM795015 is particularly important, as a result of it’s the primary Divo being supplied at public public sale. When it crosses the block at The Quail, this Divo, being supplied by Bonhams Automobiles (Lot 196) at no reserve, with fewer than 800 miles on the clock, might fetch between $7.0 and $9.0 million based mostly on early estimates. That’s no shock for a machine as uncommon, radical, and revered as this one.
Earlier this month, we reported on a Bollide, one other ultra-limited Bugatti going underneath the hammer for an estimated $6.0 million. Whereas that one is a track-only, no-rules hypercar, constructed for circuit domination, the Divo, then again, is street-legal. Nevertheless, let’s be trustworthy, this automobile isn’t more likely to rack up a lot mileage both. It’s destined for climate-controlled collections, hypercar concours gatherings, and the occasional adrenaline-filled canyon run or track-day stint, if that.
This explicit instance, with contrasting racing blue accents and the French tricolor, was delivered new to a Florida collector in 2020; it was later displayed on the Petersen Museum’s Hypercars: The Attract of the Excessive exhibit. At the moment fitted with aftermarket alloys for presentation, the automobile comes with its unique wheels and paperwork.
However for some context about what makes the Divo so unique and collectible, we have to rewind about seven years. Unveiled in 2018 at Pebble Seaside, paradoxically, very near the venue the place it should go underneath the hammer for the primary time in just a few weeks from now, the Divo may be finest described as a extra aggressive evolution of the Chiron.
Similar chassis, similar 8.0-liter quad-turbocharged W16 placing out an similar 1,479 horsepower and 1,180 pound-feet of torque, however with a completely reimagined physique and mission. Bugatti got down to create a machine with sharper dealing with, extra downforce, and larger agility. The Divo’s prime velocity at 236 mph is decrease than the Chiron’s 261 mph, however across the 3.85-mile dealing with loop on the Nardò ring in southern Italy, it was a full eight seconds faster than the usual Chiron.
As for the identify, Albert Divo, the French driver who gained the Targa Florio twice for Bugatti again within the Nineteen Twenties, this hyper sports activities automobile additionally revived Bugatti’s long-standing custom of in-house coachbuilding. Each line and consumption on the aggressive Divo’s bodywork, from the broader air inlets and enormous entrance splitter to the dramatic roof-mounted NACA duct and energetic rear wing, serves a objective.
At 1,005 kilos, the Divo generates 198 kilos extra downforce than the Chiron and weighs 77 kilos much less, because of carbon fiber elements, thinner glass, and even carbon-fiber wipers, tipping the scales at 4,323 kilos.
Inside, it’s a research in light-weight luxurious. Alcantara dominates the cabin, the Divo Blue accents stream into the sculpted seats, and even the paddle shifters are enlarged for fast engagement. There’s a quiet nod to historical past with Rembrandt Bugatti’s elephant emblem on the passenger seat.
With solely 40 models made, all of which had been supplied solely to Chiron house owners and offered out even earlier than the aforementioned public reveal at Pebble Seaside, it presents collectors with the uncommon alternative to amass one thing actually particular. Automobiles just like the Divo not often floor available on the market, and, together with the Bolide and the Mistral, it stays a jewel in Bugatti’s trendy portfolio from the Pïech-era, with Tourbillon embarking on the following chapter.
Supply: Bonhams Automobiles
