by
One-of-a-kind, ultra-fast luxury cars are notoriously hard to get, even for the extremely well-heeled, due to their nasty tendency of being sold out prior to official release.
But if you want something hard enough, you’ll get it – which probably explains how the Bugatti Chiron Profilee – the very last car to roll out of Bugatti’s factory in Molsheim, France, equipped with a W16 engine – managed to fetch a jaw-dropping hammer price of €9,792,500 (around S$14 million) at the RM Sotheby’s auction earlier this month.
Sans the buyer’s fee paid to the international auction house, that’s still over S$12 million, or around three times the price of a production model Chiron without all the bells and whistles.
Says Marcus Goring, car specialist at RM Sotheby’s: “It was an honor for us to host this very special lot in collaboration with Bugatti. The sale of the Chiron Profilee was one of the most anticipated moments of the whole auction, with enormous global interest in the car, the Profilee attracted considerable attention at the auction among bidders and curious viewers who had visited to have a glimpse of this unique car… There was a real sense of history being made.”
The Chiron Profilee gets its name from one of founder Jean Bugatti’s early creations, a Type 46 model boasting a sleek silhouette and elegant sweeping tail known as Surprofilee.
In fact, a similar sweeping fixed rear wing can be found built directly into the Profilee – providing stability at high speed and cooling for the W16 engine alongside stylish panache – setting it apart in other ways besides its special place in Bugatti’s 114-year history.
Other one-off design touches include its woven leather interior finish, unique exterior livery (dubbed Argent Atlantique) and Bugatti horseshoe grille-inspired wheels.
The sale of the Bugatti Chiron Profilee marks the end of the W16 engine’s run, as the Chiron, Bolide and W16 Mistral are completely sold out too.
That said, you might’ve spotted a make of the lattermost vehicle when it visited our garden city earlier this week for a photoshoot with some of our nation’s prettiest spots, before heading to the Bugatti Singapore Showroom for a private customer event.
