The last W16 Bugatti has been built, and it's the end of an era
Twenty years of the maddest engine ever made, over
Some cars mark the end of a chapter; this one closes an entire book. In July 2026, in the Atelier in Molsheim, Bugatti completed the very last W16 Mistral, the 99th and final one. With it, the 8.0-litre quad-turbocharged W16, the outrageous heart of the Veyron and Chiron and quite possibly the maddest engine ever put into production, falls silent. Excuse us while we get a little emotional.
An engine that redefined the possible
When the Veyron arrived in 2005 with its 8.0-litre, sixteen-cylinder, quad-turbo W16, the world had never seen anything like it. Over two decades the engine powered three legends, the Veyron, the Chiron and finally the open-top W16 Mistral, growing ever mightier along the way to 1,600 hp. It shattered speed barriers repeatedly and made the impossible feel routine. No other production engine has ever matched its configuration, and now none ever will.
A fitting final car
The 99th and final Mistral is a suitably bespoke farewell. It wears a two-tone Pearl and Sparkle livery over a Magnolia and Grey Carbon Matt interior, with Ettore Bugatti's signature stitched into the headrests and milled into the door sills, and a Lalique crystal armrest titled Spirit of the Wind. The gear selector carries a falcon's head, a personal tribute to its owner, and a dedication plate reads simply: The last of its kind.
Bowing out as a record holder
The Mistral does not leave quietly. In November 2024, Bugatti test driver Andy Wallace took a Mistral to 453.91 km/h at the Papenburg proving ground, making it the fastest open-top production car in the world, a record it carries into retirement. For an engine that spent twenty years collecting speed records, there could hardly be a more appropriate final act.
Not quite the very end
One small consolation: series production may be over, but two exclusive W16 one-offs, the F.K.P. Hommage and the Brouillard, are still to be completed, so the sixteen-cylinder will roar a couple more times. After that, Molsheim's future belongs to the Tourbillon, built at the newly opened La Manufacture facility, with a naturally aspirated V16 hybrid at its heart. A worthy successor on paper, and a very different kind of madness.
AutoNext Take
This one genuinely moves us. The W16 was more than an engine; it was a statement that engineering audacity still had a place in the modern world, a 1,600 hp middle finger to the very idea of limits. An entire generation of enthusiasts, ourselves included, grew up with Veyron posters and top-speed records that felt like science fiction. Watching the last one leave Molsheim feels like saying goodbye to a piece of our own car-loving youth.
The comfort is that it goes out on top, undefeated and unrepeated, and that Bugatti is at least replacing it with a naturally aspirated V16 rather than something sensible. In an age when even Aston Martin has to find loopholes to keep its V12 alive, twenty years of the W16 feels like a gift we were lucky to witness. Farewell, old friend. There will never be another like you.
