Bugatti hopes its last gas-only car will be the world's fastest convertible

It is also the last petrol-only Bugatti. Future models will be mixed.

Only 99 Mistrals will be built, and all of them have already been sold out before the vehicle was revealed to the public Friday in Carmel, California, according to Bugatti.

“There can only be one goal in mind: to become the fastest roadster in the world again,” the company said in its announcement.

Bugatti did not say what the expected top speed of the Mistral might be. The last time Bugatti could claim to have the world’s fastest convertible was in 2013 when the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse Cabriolet drove 254 mph on a Volkswagen test track in Germany.

The Hennessey Venom F5 Roadster built by Hennessey Performance Engineering of Texas sets the current top speed record for a convertible. This $3 million, 1,800-horsepower car hit 265.6 mph in 2016.

Convertible cars usually have lower top speeds than hardtop cars due to their poor aerodynamics.

Mistral will also be the last model to own Bugatti’s famous W16 16-cylinder engine. Mate Rimac, CEO of Bugatti-Rimac, the company that now owns the Bugatti brand, said future Bugatti models will be hybrids. It’s not clear what type of gas engine these future models will have, but it won’t be the same as the W16 engine that, with its many evolutions and improvements, has powered every modern Bugatti since 2005.

The version of this engine used in the Mistral is the same version that powered the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport that Bugatti claimed in 2019. It managed to reach speeds of nearly 305 miles per hour.

Air is drawn to the large Mistral engine through air scoops behind each of the car seats. The air scoops are made of carbon fiber and are designed to support the entire vehicle weight to protect occupants in the event of a rollover accident. The air intakes on the side of the car are for oil coolers. The air passing through the oil coolers is vented through the Mistral X-shaped taillights.

The Mistral design was inspired by the classic 1934 Bugatti Type 57 Roadster Grand Raid. Specifically, Bugatti designers considered the current Roadster Grand Raid On display at the Le Mans Automobile Museum In the Netherlands, according to Bugatti. The car’s sharply angled V-shaped windshield and raised humps behind each of the seats are among the similarities to the modern car.

The front of the Mistral is distinguished by its distinctive design, with headlights each made of four light bars. The horseshoe central grille is also deeper and wider than that found in hardtop cars.

The first cars will be delivered to customers in 2024, according to Bugatti. It was a Bugatti Separated from the Volkswagen Group In 2021 and now Partnership contract with Croatian supercar maker Rimac. Bugatti is still manufactured in its traditional home in Molsheim, France.