It is also Bugatti’s last petrol car. Future models will be hybrid.
Only 99 Mistrals will be made, and all of them have already been sold before the car was even unveiled to the public on Friday in Carmel, California, according to Bugatti.
“There can only be one goal in mind: to once again become the fastest roadster in the world,” the company said in a statement.
Bugatti did not say what the Mistral’s expected top speed might be. The last time Bugatti could claim to own the world’s fastest convertible was in 2013, when the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse cabriolet clocked 254 mph at Volkswagen’s test track in Germany.
The current top speed record for convertibles is claimed by the Hennessey Venom F5 Roadster built by Hennessey Performance Engineering of Texas. This 1,800 horsepower, $3 million car hit a top speed of 265.6 mph in 2016.
Convertibles generally have a lower top speed than hardtops due to their poorer aerodynamics.
The Mistral will also be the last model with Bugatti’s famous W16 16-cylinder engine. Mate Rimac, CEO of Bugatti-Rimac, the company that now owns the Bugatti brand, said that future Bugatti models will be hybrids. It’s unclear what kind of gas engine these future models will have, but it won’t be the same W16 that’s powered every modern Bugatti car since 2005, with various tweaks and upgrades.
Air for the Mistral’s large engine is drawn in through ducts behind each of the car’s two seats. The air vanes are made of carbon fiber and are designed to support the full weight of the vehicle to protect the occupants in the event of a rollover crash. The air intakes on the side of the car are for the oil coolers. Air passing through the oil coolers is vented through the Mistral’s X-shaped taillights.
The front end of the Mistral has its own distinctive design with headlights, each made of four light strips. The central horseshoe grille is also deeper and wider than on hardtop cars.