At 282mph, The Bugatti Mistral Is Officially The Fastest Open-Top Ever

An example of Bugatti’s uber-rare W16 roadster claimed the record at a test track in Germany, with its owner in attendance

Mike Bartholomew

14 Nov 2024

Bugatti Mistral World Record Car - front

Soon, Bugatti’s long-serving 8.0-litre, quad-turbocharged W16 engine will die off, with its replacement, the naturally aspirated hybrid V16 setup found in the new Tourbillon, not far over the horizon. It seems the company wants to give the engine a proper send-off though, because one of the very last cars to be powered by it – the Bugatti Mistral – has just become the fastest open-top car of all time.

The Mistral, which, if we’re being pedantic, isn’t technically a convertible because it has no roof at all, is a highly limited-run roadster, with just 99 set to be built. Based on the Chiron, and powered by the same 1578bhp version of the W16 as the Chiron Super Sport, it and the track-only Bolide serve as swansongs for the engine that’s powered every VW-developed Bugatti, but will soon be succeeded by the Tourbillon’s V16.

The Mistral in question is part of a private collection in India that also features examples of Bugatti’s other speed record-breaking cars – the Veyron Super Sport, Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse and Chiron Super Sport 300+, all finished in the black-and-orange colour scheme made famous by the original Veyron SS.

For the record attempt, the car was shipped over to the massive automotive test facility at Papenburg in northern Germany. It includes a 7.6-mile long oval, the same track where the new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 recently became the fastest American production car ever.

Bugatti Mistral World Record Car - onboard

Piloted by Andy Wallace, the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and the man behind the wheel for all of Bugatti’s past speed records, the roofless Mistral was able to climb up to a speed of 453.91 kph. That’s a hair over 282mph, knocking the 266mph Hennessey Venom GT Spyder off its perch. The run was verified by SGS-TÜV Saar, a German testing agency.

According to Wallace, who then went nearly as fast again with the car’s owner riding shotgun, “When it came to the moment itself, the experience was overwhelmingly thrilling; feeling the elemental forces from the open-top cockpit, the sound of the immense W16 engine emanating from the air scoops next to my ear – it made the achievement incredibly emotional.”

It seems the run was only achieved in one direction, so it might not appear in the Guinness Book of World Records any time soon, and it’s also unclear how the car differed from the other 98 Mistrals in any way – Bugatti specifically calls it the Mistral World Record Car, but it’s not known if this just refers to the colour scheme or if there are any mechanical differences.

Still, 282mph is nothing to sneer at. Your move, Hennessey Venom F5 Roadster.

The first full sentence spoken by an infant Mike was a review of the ride quality of a Volvo 850. It was “Daddy’s car goes bumpy-bump on a bumpy road,” so would probably need proofreading a bit, but it was a start.