Bugatti Mistral Hits 282 MPH to Become the World’s Fastest Roofless Car
Basically a Chiron with the roof chopped off, the 1578-hp Mistral made good on Bugatti’s promise that it’d be the fastest roadster in the world.
The Bugatti Mistral has set a new record as the world’s fastest roofless car, hitting 282 mph.
The record-breaking run took place on November 9, at the ATP Automotive Testing facility in Papenburg, Germany.
The Mistral is basically a Bugatti Chiron with new bodywork, including no roof, but it has the same 1578-hp quad-turbo 8.0-liter W-16 engine.
How fast would you be willing to drive a car—100 mph, 200 mph? Even if you’re on a closed course with medical personnel on hand, does that number change if the car is missing a roof? It seems that Andy Wallace, Bugatti’s official test driver, had no issue going extremely fast with the top chopped off. On November 9, he piloted a 2024 Bugatti Mistral to a top speed of 282 mph, setting a world record for an open-top car.
The record-breaking run from Wallace and the Mistral took place on the 7.64-mile oval track at the ATP Automotive Testing Facility in Papenburg, Germany. According to Bugatti, Wallace entered the banking at a pre-determined speed of 124 mph before unleashing the Mistral’s full 1578 horsepower on the straight.
Despite Bugatti setting numerous world records over the years, the Mistral’s was the first attended by the car’s owner. Bugatti said in a release that after the official run concluded, Wallace took the owner on another high-speed run, which the company suspects is the fastest-ever passenger ride.
The Mistral marks the end of an era for Bugatti. As the brand brought the lifecycle of the Chiron to a close, it produced 99 examples of the Mistral to signify the end of the quad-turbo W-16 engine. Each of the 99 Mistrals produced carried a starting price of $5 million.
Along with removing the roof, the Mistral is a radically different take on the Chiron. It’s got a redesigned front end with a more aggressive shape than the Chiron. Something that stays the same between the two models is the engine. Bugatti carried over the quad-turbo 8.0-liter W-16 in all its 1578-hp glory. Power is delivered to all four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
When the car first debuted in 2022, Bugatti clearly stated its intentions to Car and Driver, announcing the goal of beating the 254-mph record set by the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse in 2013. Mission accomplished.
