Bugatti Destrier One-of-One Hypercar
In 1937, a single Bugatti Type 57 chassis underpinned both a Le Mans-winning race car and the Type 57SC Atlantic, a car that still tops many lists of the most beautiful designs in automotive history. Bugatti repeats that split with the Destrier, the third one-off from its Programme Solitaire division, built on the same carbon monocoque as its 1,578-horsepower Bolide track car but stripped of every wing and aerodynamic addition the Bolide wears. A hand-laser-engraved plate above the windscreen depicts both the Type 57G Tank racer and the Atlantic, making the connection between one platform and two entirely different cars permanent. The result stands just one meter tall, shorter than any Bugatti built before it, on 20-inch front and 21-inch rear wheels sized up from the Bolide's own 18-inch wheels. It's finished in Sapphire Celeste, a bespoke multi-layered blue that echoes the original paint of the "Pope" Atlantic. Inside, leather and nubuck in a warm brown called Ambre Voyageur pair with a 3D-knitted textile threaded with copper yarn, and a small French flag marks the middle of the cabin. Bugatti built exactly one, for a single owner, and will reveal it to the public for the first time at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the kind of stage reserved for cars meant to be judged as art rather than machines.
