See The Bugatti W16 Mistral Meet Mediterranean The Wind That Inspired Its Name

Bugatti has revealed new images of its stunningW16 Mistral, which aims totake the fight to the Hennessey Venom F5 Roadsterand become the fastest roadster in the world. The beautiful snaps were captured in the perfect setting: the Cote d'Azur of southern France, where one of the dominant winds is that which gave the hypercar its name. The mistral wind is one of eight that envelop the Mediterranean Sea, blowing from the Rhone River valley through the towns along the coast and into the Gulf of Lion in the northern Mediterranean. The wind can be felt all through the year in southern France, but its power becomes more intense near the end of winter. Similarly, we're sure that each of the 99 buyers who choose to take theW16 Mistral beyond 260 mphwill find the billowing air more intense the nearer they get to the engine's redline.

Considering its name, it's difficult to forget what powers the W16 Mistral, but let's have a quick recap. Like the Bugatti Chiron, an 8.0-liter, 16-cylinder, quad-turbocharged engine provides motivation. In the car that should become the fastest Bugatti drop-top by outperforming the254-mph Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, the world-renowned W16 engine produces 1,578 horsepower, the same amount you get in the Chiron Super Sport 300+.

Unfortunately, the W16 Mistral heralds the end of the W16 era, and it will also be the only Chiron-based drop-top, although aone-off was once rumored. Then again, Bugatti has beendragging out the death of the W16just as long as Lamborghini has been claiming it's done building unelectrified V12s.