After several days of cryptic teasing and a few leaks, Bugatti has finally come clean on their newest venture into hypercar evolution with the release of their newest concept car.

Bugatti has been on its A-game in for the past year. The soon-to-be-produced Chiron SS 300+ broke the 300mph barrier last August, in 2020 we got a look at the Chiron Pur Sport, and Divo deliveries have been underway for months.

Still, Bugatti is pushing the needle forward with their new track-only behemoth, the Bugatti Bolide.

The Bolide’s main selling point is its power-to-weight ratio: 0.67 horsepower per pound. With a simulated Nurburgring lap time of 5:23 and Le Mans at 3:07, that would theoretically put the concept Bugatti beyond the realm of modern LMP1 cars. Full stop.

The familiar 8.0L W16 from the Chiron is boosted to new levels, with 4 newly modified turbochargers bringing the Bolide up to 1825 horsepower. It also shares an AWD system with the Chiron, but that is about where the similarities end. The Bolide sports a completely new chassis, new push-rod suspension setup designed for track use, F1-style ceramic brakes, and a roof scope that adapts accordingly to the speed of the car so as to maximize airflow.

Arguably the most groundbreaking area of the Bolide is its radical new design. Nearly all of Bugatti’s releases since the Chiron came out have been easily traceable back to a consistent basic design, perhaps excluding the one-off La Voiture Noire. But the Bolide, in chief Bugatti designer Achim Anscheidt’s own words, is an “extreme concept”.

“It is the very first time that my team had the freedom of creating an absolutely minimalistic design around the W16 engine. The result is the most provocative proportion of a modern Bugatti ever and the distilled quintessence of our Bugatti design ethos that form follows performance,” says Anscheidt. 

Despite the increased focus on design, the Bolide development is arguably more technically driven. It’s clearly focused on being a track king, and if it can stand up to Bugatti’s eye-watering claims, that is a feat no doubt. Bugatti has not released any production information about the Bolide yet, but a camouflaged prototype was spotted earlier this month testing at Paul Ricard.

Updates will be reported accordingly.