Bugatti is back in the game: the W16 Mistral has become the fastest roadster in the world, hitting 453.91 km/h

Bugatti has announced that it has set a new speed record. The Chiron-based W16 Mistral roadster accelerated to 453.91 km/h (282 mph), making it the fastest open-top car in the world.

Andy Wallace, Bugatti driver and winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, drove the car during the record-breaking run. The speed of 453.91 km/h was recorded on 9 November on the track in Papenburg, Germany. This is 34 km/h more than the official maximum of the production W16 Mistral.

A unique car for a speed record

The "record-breaking" W16 Mistral costs €14,000,000 (approximately $14,744,000) - almost three times as much as the base version of the hypercar. In addition to its dizzying top speed, the roadster features an exclusive design: carbon fibre bodywork, Jet Orange accents and tone-on-tone wheels. The interior also features a similar styling.

Bugatti notes that it spent months of preparation and testing to set the record. However, the company does not specify whether the chassis or the powertrain - a 1,600bhp 8.0-litre W16 engine with four turbos - has undergone changes.

Part of a legendary collection

This unique W16 Mistral has become part of "The Singh Collection", a private collection in Punjab, India. The owner already has previous Bugatti record holders in his garage: the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport (431.07 km/h in 2010), the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse (408.84 km/h in 2013) and the Chiron Super Sport 300+ (490.48 km/h in 2019).

After completing the record-breaking run, the car owner had the honour of taking a ride with Andy Wallace. It is claimed that the speed during the ride was close to the record speed.

Interestingly, Bugatti has officially announced that it will abandon top speed races in 2019. But it seems that even such loud statements did not prevent the company from leaving another "dot" in the history. Now we wonder if we will see a new record from the Bugatti Tourbillon with an official top speed of 445 km/h.

Source: Bugatti