Hello There! Are You The Bugatti Divo?

TopSpeed

By Kirby Garlitos

Published Jul 20, 2018

Heavily wrapped Bugatti looks like the Chiron, but is it the Chiron?

A heavily wrapped Bugatti Chiron-based prototype has been spotted at the Nurburgring, triggering alarm bells that this model could be none other than the limited edition Divo that Bugatti announced just last week. There are no indications that this test mule is, in fact, the Divo, but with little news on the front of other Chiron derivatives these days, it stands to reason that Bugatti wouldn’t send a prototype to the ‘Ring to do testing if it has no plans to do anything about it.

The pictures, which were shared by the Instagram account of DCNCars, shows what is clearly a Bugatti Chiron. The headlights and taillights may look a little different, but the overall design looks the same, right down the body and all the accompanying aero bits in the front, sides, and rear of the car.

So why do we think that this is the Divo? Well, there’s the timing aspect of it. Bugatti announced last week that it was developing a limited edition version of the Chiron called the Divo. Then this car hits the Nurburgring, further aligning the expected schedule ahead of its debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August.

Then there’s the precedent set by all the special edition Bugatti Veyrons that the French supercar maker launched in its almost decade-long lifespan. The nature of those special edition Veyrons largely involved special design touches and added premium elements to the supercar. But they all still looked like the Veyron. The only difference this time is that Bugatti is using the Divo name independent of the Chiron. Then again, this model might still end up being the Bugatti Chiron Divo. Only time will tell.

So what exactly do we know about the Bugatti Divo? We don’t know the full details yet, but we know that the Divo’s main existence is predicated on Bugatti’s goal to cut some weight off of the Chiron and manifest it on a supercar. As most of you know by now, the Chiron weighs around 4,400 pounds. It’s essentially a small house that relies on its impressive grip and high-tech all-wheel-drive system to get it around corners. The Divo, on the other hand, is expected to be much lighter than the Chiron, making it the perfect supercar to tackle all the twist, turns, and corners of racetracks all over the world. Bugatti president Stephen Winkelmann said as much when he described the Divo as a car that’s “made for corners.”

A big part of that updated styling could mean getting rid of a few exotic elements that came with the Chiron package. It’s as if the Divo is going to sacrifice luxury in the name of weight and unbridled performance, a formula that a lot of Bugatti fans would probably not mind the least bit.

Regardless of all the speculation, expect the Bugatti Divo — or Bugatti Chiron Divo — to make a spectacular entrance at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance next month. Bugatti only plans to build 40 units of the Divo, though it’s unclear if that allocation will cut into the Chiron’s own 500-unit production run. The Divo’s price is tacked at €5 million in Europe, excluding taxes. That converts to $5.82 million based on current exchange rates.

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