The Bugatti Chiron Profilée, a one-of-a-kind piece of Bugatti history and the last W16-powered car available from the automaker, has sold for a crazy high price of 9,792,500 Euros ($10.7 million USD). This sale at the RM Sotheby’s auction which took place in Paris yesterday makes the Chiron Profilée the most valuable new car ever sold at auction.
With production of the Chiron models, the W16 Mistral and the Bolide completely sold out, the auction of the Chiron Profilée represented the last possible opportunity to buy a new Bugatti powered by the legendary W16 engine directly from Bugatti. With such an important piece of Bugatti history at stake, bidding was fierce both in the room and on the phones.
“With just one Chiron Profilée ever set to exist, it was important for us to offer the opportunity to acquire this piece of history to as many people as possible and we were excited with the enthusiasm of the global automotive community for this very special car. Bidders clearly recognized the importance and value of the Chiron Profilée, with an intense rivalry and a price that places this car firmly into the history books.” – Hendrik Malinowski, Managing Director of Bugatti Automobiles
The name ‘Profilée’ draws inspiration from one of Jean Bugatti’s first creations – a specific Type 46 model known as Surprofilée, with a sleeker silhouette and an elegant sweeping tail. Just as that car remains an important part of Bugatti history, the Chiron Profilée has now written in its own chapter in the 114-year-old heritage of Bugatti.
Like the Chiron Pur Sport5 the Chiron Profilée uses the 1,500 PS quad-turbo 8.0-liter engine. The sweeping fixed rear wing directly integrated to the body of the car both provides stability at high speed and crucial cooling for the W16 engine. The Profilée is also the first Chiron sold fitted with a woven leather finish in the interior and its exterior color named Argent Atlantique is absolutely unique and has never been applied on any other Chiron model. The horseshoe-style wheels inspired by the Bugatti famous horseshoe grille as well are designed and engineered only for this specific car and represent other details which can only be found on the Profilée.
Unike most one-off cars, the Chiron Profilée was developed with production in mind. The Profilée was a response to Bugatti customers wanting a tamer, more elegant version of the track-focused Chiron Pur Sport launched in early 2020. However, higher than expected demand for the Chiron in general meant all 500 build slots for the hypercar were already sold for before the Chiron Profilée could be brought to market. This Chiron Profilée is actually a pre-production unit that has been made legal to drive on public roads in Europe. As a pre-production unit, it’s not included in the 500-unit build run for the Chiron. However, that still means there are now 501 Bugatti Chirons in this world.
Bugatti plans to donate a portion of the proceeds from the auction of the Profilée to charity.
