Bravo to the Bugatti Bolide buyer whose car is clearly no garage queen. The owner of one of only 40 of the £3.5 million hypercars took to the track at Circuit of the Americas in Texas to drive the car as it was designed.
Even rain didn’t stop play as the Bolide’s driver did two installation laps, followed by a dozen loops of the 3.426-mile Grand Prix circuit and its 20 corners, reaching a top speed of 207mph at one point.
It’s exactly the occasion the Bolide was built for as the 1,578bhp W16-powered car isn’t road legal and Bugatti is planning a series of track events for customers in 2025, for those willing to risk their investment. This owner clearly couldn’t wait and, with the aid of Bugatti Beverly Hills, hired the Texas track.
“The sensation when you come out of a corner, press the throttle, and feel a relentless surge of power is incomparable,” he said. “Though the rain was an uninvited guest, it added a layer of excitement to this special day. I can’t wait to do it again.”
The owner is not just an enthusiastic driver, but a keen Bugatti historian, choosing the specification of his Bolide based on the company’s storied racing past. The base color is French Racing Blue with Nocturne black accents and exposed black carbon fiber that pays homage to the Type 35. The interior, meanwhile, is a mix of French Racing Blue and Beluga Black Alcantara with plenty of polished aluminum. A special engraved plate reads “Équipe Curtis” as a tribute to Ettoré Bugatti’s “Équipe Bugatti” race team.
While many Bolides may spend their lives in climate-controlled collections at least this one is seeing the kind of action its designers and engineers intended. Chapeau, as they say in France.
