Bugatti's one-of-a-kind W16 Mistral "Blanc Éternel" combines 1,578-hp engineering with centuries-old porcelain artistry. Here's the story of the car that signaled the end of Bugatti's W16 era.
Some cars go out with a whisper. Bugatti decided to send its final W16 engine off in style, encasing it in fired clay. The result is one of the most fascinating concept cars to come out of Molsheim in years.
Meet the Bugatti W16 Mistral "Blanc Éternel," a one-of-a-kind car that blends the last ever roadster version of Bugatti's iconic W16 engine with real porcelain. It's an unusual mix of delicate art and a 273-mph supercar.
A Fifteen-Year-Old Collaboration, Revisited
Bugatti isn't exactly stranger to porcelain than most automakers. In 2011, the firm partnered with Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin (KPM), a porcelain manufacturer with a heritage stretching back more than two centuries, to create the Veyron Grand Sport "L'Or Blanc." The car featured blue and white brushstrokes that evoked traditional porcelain paintings.
Fifteen years later, Bugatti and KPM have joined forces once again. This time, the collaboration takes the form of a Mistral roadster meant to celebrate the end of the W16 engine's road car era.
The Design is Actually a Computer Graphic
What makes Blanc Éternel special is that the porcelain isn't the star of the show. At least not in the way you'd expect. The design of the car is actually a computer graphic.
Modern supercars like the Mistral are designed on computers these days. Bugatti's designers use complex NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines) to define the shape of the car in the digital realm. This information is then used to create molds for the clay prototypes.
Usually, these digital outlines remain in the hands of the designers. Blanc Éternel's designers decided to share them with the world. Fine black lines trace the outlines of the Mistral's digital design language right onto the car's white paint. The effect is similar to a 3D render of the car, but with the added detail of real-life body panels.
It's a clever mix of old and new. The complex computer graphic came to life using traditional painting and sculpting methods. Bugatti's Atelier did the painting and sanding, and then masked the car to trace the lines directly onto the bodywork. Not a single computer algorithm touched the car during the process.
The Porcelain Details Are Everywhere
The porcelain itself appears in several places on Blanc Éternel, including the EB logo, the fuel and oil caps, and engine cover inlays on the exterior, as well as the gear selector, speaker grilles, window switches, and console accents on the interior. The same goes for the interior, where black lines trace the same design language across the white leather seats.
Working with porcelain is no easy task. The material requires a careful balancing act to ensure that the finished product isn't malformed during the firing process. It also shrinks by approximately 17 percent, which means every detail has to be measured and cut to exact specifications. This is especially important on a car like the Mistral, where the difference between two body panels can sometimes be measured in millimeters.
Still a High-Performance Super Car Underneath
Underneath the intricate porcelain detailing, the Mistral is still a high-performance supercar. Powering the car is a quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 engine producing 1,600 PS (1,578 horsepower). It can accelerate from 0-62 mph in 2.4 seconds and has a top speed of 273 mph.
There will only be 99 Mistral roadsters produced, with Blanc Éternel being the sole example wearing this special livery. The car is also a fitting sendoff for the W16 engine, as it's the final roadster to use the engine before Bugatti transitions into its hybrid V16 era with the upcoming Tourbillon.
The Bigger picture
While Bugatti has yet to release any official pricing for Blanc Éternel, it's safe to assume that it won't be cheap. The one-of-a-kind Sur Mesure cars are typically exclusive to Bugatti's most elite clients, with the standard W16 Mistral already starting at a reasonably hefty $5.7 million. Still, Blanc Éternel's unique blend of art and engineering is sure to draw plenty of attention from car buyers and enthusiasts alike.
Whether or not it will eventually share a garage with its porcelain predecessor, the L'Or Blanc, remains to be seen. Either way, Blanc Éternel is a befitting farewell to the W16 engine that defined Bugatti's modern era.
Ford's F-150 Lightning: The Electric Truck America Didn't Know they Needed
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
