£4.4 million Bugatti Divo previewed ahead of August 24 reveal

July 30, 2018

Bugatti Chiron Divo lined up as downforce-honed variant

New preview shots of the car give little away, the accompanying announcement confirms a 40-unit production run and suggests blistering performance

Bugatti has shown the first glimpse of its Chiron-based Divo hypercar ahead of its launch on 24 August.

Following the brand's confirmation that a track-focused named Divo is on the way, a shot of the car's taillights has been released in a social media video. A tweak to the shot of the car's rear revealed the outline of a large fixed wing.

Another shot showing embroidered branding for the car reveals none of the performance-boosting revisions over the Chiron, but the hashtag ‘Built for corners’ suggests a set-up more suited to track driving than outright speed. Bugatti also lauds the car's "enormous downforce and G-forces".

The name comes from the 1928 and 1929 Targa Florio-winning, French Bugatti race driver Albert Divo.

Bugatti hasn't revealed the car yet, but confirms that Divo will be the first project undertaken by its newly resurrected coachbuilding division. "New, strong design language" suggests its look will be notably distinct from that of the regular Chiron.

Set to be revealed at The Quail Motorsports Gathering later this summer, the Divo will add to the series of editions that starts with the standard, £2.5 million Chiron and continues to the more lightweight, hardcore Chiron Sport.

The Divo is expected to follow the Sport in getting no alterations to Bugatti's 1479bhp quad-turbo 8.0-litre W16, but lightweighting measures, downforce-boosting bodywork, upgraded suspension and other corner-friendly mechanical tweaks are confirmed.

It’s likely that the Divo will complete the brand's line-up for the foreseeable future, given that it will be the third variant launched in two years. Bugatti will charge £4.42 million for each of the 40 Divos that will be made - a heavy premium over the other two models.

“Happiness is not around the corner. It is the corner. The Divo is made for corners. With the Divo, we want to thrill people throughout the world. With this project, the Bugatti team has an opportunity to interpret the brand DNA in terms of agile, nimble handling in a significantly more performance-oriented way," said Bugatti boss Stephan Winkelmann.

Last year, Bugatti set the record for the 0-400kph-0 run with a time of 41.96sec, but Koenigsegg broke this record twice a few weeks later. Koenigsegg also broke the production car speed record, which has remained unchallenged by Bugatti.

Bugatti hasn’t hinted at any motorsport intentions with the Divo, except for the location of its unveiling, but it would likely be a contender for the production car Nürburgring lap record.

To set the record, it would have to beat the Nio EP9’s time of 6:45.90. If it were to do so, it would make three of the five fastest production car laps from Volkswagen Group products, joining the current second-place holder, the Porsche 911 GT2 RS, and fourth-place Lamborghini Huracán Performante.

P orsche also recently smashed the outright 'Ring record with its modified Le Mans car, the 919 Evo.