The last of its kind: Bugatti marks the end of production of the W16 Mistral

Unveiled at Monterey Car Week in 2022, the W16 Mistral went on to captivate audiences around the world – from Japan and Singapore, to Riyadh, Dubai and beyond, each stop building anticipation ahead of first deliveries. All before a record-breaking moment in automotive history, in November 2024, when Bugatti Pilote Officiel Andy Wallace took the one-of-one W16 Mistral World Record Car to 453.91 km/h (282 mph) at ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg; a top speed that made the W16 Mistral the fastest open-top production car in the world, and gave it the perfect send-off before series production began at the start of 2025.

What followed was a year that ranks among the richest yet for the W16 Mistral within Bugatti's Sur Mesure program. In that time, the Bugatti Sur Mesure team in Molsheim and Berlin continued to work closely with customers to understand their desires and aspirations, creating deeply personal interpretations of the roadster, with no two masterpieces alike.

The latest bespoke creation, the one-off W16 Mistral ‘Blanc Éternel,’ was unveiled earlier this month. Shaped around the finest expressions of artistry and craftsmanship, this one-of-one creation unites the precision of digital design with painstaking handcraft, drawing on the centuries-old porcelain expertise of Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin. Across its exceptionally delicate form, the W16 Mistral ‘Blanc Éternel’ reflects the customer’s own vision as much as Bugatti’s – with depth of detail and precision of craft defining each design cue from the outside in.

For one car in particular, 2026 brought a fitting conclusion. At the Silverstone Grand Prix, the very same W16 Mistral World Record Car that claimed the speed record was officially handed over to its owner, marking a symbolic milestone in the model's production journey. And around the world, that W16 Mistral journey continues to be written by the customers themselves, driving solo or joining the wider Bugatti family at incredible events such as the Bugatti Grand Tours, and many other memorable gatherings the W16 Mistral community has shared since first deliveries began.

Where the core concept of the W16 Mistral draws on the spirit of the Type 57 Roadster Grand Raid, the last W16 Mistral to leave the Bugatti Atelier in Molsheim nods to the spirit of the car itself: ‘The last of its kind,’ in reference to the final roadgoing swansong to the W16 engine. Inside the cabin, a dedication plate pairs this mantra with a silhouette of the W16 Mistral, binding the vehicle with eternal inimitability in a poignant tribute to its remarkable design.

While the exterior is finished in an elegant combination of ‘Pearl’ and ‘Sparkle,’ paired inside with ‘Magnolia’ and ‘Grey Carbon Matt’, the hypercar’s design reaches back further still, to the origins of the modern Bugatti era, when Ferdinand Piëch set out the ambition that would define the W16: a car capable of exceeding 400 km/h, yet composed enough to arrive at the opera that same evening. This W16 Mistral was built to carry both personalities of the car one last time.

For the customer, it was equally important to connect the car to the man who made everything possible: Ettore Bugatti, the one who settled the Bugatti brand in Molsheim in 1909. His signature is stitched into the headrests, rendered in aluminum along the door sills, and reimagined in place of the usual Bugatti signature on the engine cover's inner trim.

That same dialogue between Bugatti’s past and present continues on the armrest plate, created in collaboration with Lalique. Cast in frozen crystal glass and titled ‘Spirit of the Wind,’ it references the long-standing relationship between Bugatti and Lalique – first established by Ettore Bugatti and René Lalique themselves – and echoes the sculpture given to W16 Mistral customers when they configured their cars.

Working hand in hand with Manager of Sur Mesure and Individualization at Bugatti, Jascha Straub, and the entrusted partner, Bugatti Riyadh, the customer shaped one more personal detail. A falcon head, in place of Bugatti's usual elephant sculpture, sits atop the gear shift – a nod to an animal of particular significance in their home region in the Middle East, complemented exquisitely by a sketch embroidered in ‘Anthracite’ across the door panels.

With this masterpiece now ready to begin a new adventure, the W16 Mistral's production story comes to a close: 99 examples built, each shaped around its own owner, and each carrying forward the philosophy of the engine that has defined Bugatti for two decades.