Bugatti promised to drop the mother lode at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, and it did just that with a number of jaw-dropping exotics, one of which was the La Voiture Noire. There are no words to describe the one-off La Voiture Noire. There are only superlatives. Lots and lots of superlatives. Described as the ideological successor to the iconic Bugatti Atlantic, the $18 million La Voiture Noire is the most expensive one-off production car in the world. At the very least, it’s worthy of all the attention it’s getting, including one from auto designer Nikita Aksyonov, who thought it slick to imagine what the La Voiture Noire would look like without its roof. A roadster version of the one-off supercar isn’t going to happen, but through Aksyonov’s rendering, we can at least see what it could look like in topless form.

Bugatti La Voiture Noire Roadster Rendering

A car like the Bugatti La Voiture Noire really doesn’t need any introduction, does it? It’s a model that pays tribute to arguably the most famous Bugatti of all time; the 1930s Type 57 SC Atlantic. It’s based on the Bugatti Chiron just like the Divo, but you wouldn’t think of it if you see the hypercar in the flesh. Once you see it, you know that it’s the one, literally and figuratively.

Now, imagine if it had no roof. That’s the rub, isn’t it?

Auto designer Nikita Aksyonov didn’t just imagine what a topless La Voiture Noire would look like. He actually created one, or rendered a digital version, to be exact. I suppose any new version of the La Voiture Noire is going to put a lot of jaws on the floor, but even with that expectation, Aksyonov’s creation forced us to reconsider our lots in life. This is what a La Voiture Noire Roadster looks like? I’ve come close to cursing numerous times on this site, but this is probably the closest I’ll ever come to doing it. Holy shi…sh kebab!

On the surface, Aksyonov could’ve just chopped off the roof and be done with it, right? Bugatti already put in the work to make the La Voiture Noire the stunning visual masterpiece that it is. But a good artist who’s worth his weight in whatever software he’s using doesn’t take shortcuts. Cutting off the roof? That’s a shortcut. Instead, Aksyonov worked around that obvious solution by working on specific sections of the hypercar that he believed needed some, shall I say, refining. As such, the panel right behind the seats has been modified. Sure, it retains its basic shape, but it looks shorter now, presumably to get rid of excess pieces and panels that would’ve compromised the La Voiture Noire Roadsters. It takes a certain amount of rendering know-how to navigate around the delicate changes that a coupe-to-roadster transformation requires.

Give Aksyonov credit for his restraint, too. It’d be easy to turn the La Voiture Noire’s design upside down and give it a wholesale transformation. But the artist presumably stayed clear of doing that, opting instead to leave most of the hypercar’s design alone. That’s a nod to the work that Bugatti already did on the supercar’s looks. Skeptics might still scoff that it’s nothing more than a Chiron in fancier clothing, but I don’t think that’s a fair assessment considering the rarity and exclusivity that this one-off exudes.

Of course, that didn’t stop Aksyonov from giving his La Voiture Noire Roadster a different look, though not necessarily by redesigning the hypercar’s body. Instead, he opted for a different and more colorful paint scheme. Instead of keeping the all-black look of the La Voiture Noire, Aksyonov opted to give his roadster version a dark metallic blue hue body with contrasting bronze wheels and extended ornamentation on the tires in the same color. The two-tone look veers away from the black-and-silver finish of the actual La Voiture Noire that was inspired by the Type 57 SC Atlantic. So what if the rendering departs from that connection? It’s not like Bugatti’s going to build an actual topless version of the La Voiture Noire, right?

The one-off hypercar’s performance numbers are right on par with the Chiron and Divo. Bugatti didn’t divulge performance numbers, but this one-off should at least be as quick as the Chiron when it accelerates from 0 to 60 mph. The latter does it in 2.4 seconds, which is what I assume is the La Voiture Noire’s figure, as well. Top speed could be a different story, though, largely because of the one-off’s different body. A 260-mph top speed is possible, though I expect it to be more in the range of the Divo’s 236-mph top speed. Either way, the Bugatti La Voiture Noire is fast. Really fast.

Before you get a tad too excited, let me burst your bubble now. A roadster version of Bugatti’s $18-million, one-off hypercar is not happening. You have a better chance of seeing stalactites inside a sauna. Bugatti has made it clear that there will only be one La Voiture Noire in the world. There will be no second model. There will be no offshoots. There will be no other derivatives of this exact model. There’s only this one, and nothing more.

Ok, so that’s a bummer. In a perfect world, Bugatti could build a partner for the La Voiture Noire, preferably one of the roofless persuasion. But since that’s not happening, we can at least be thankful that we have the La Voiture Noire in our lives. It may not be ours — it’s reportedly owned by former Volkswagen Group chairman Ferdinand Piech — but at least our feet can touch the earth knowing that this hypercar’s set of tires does the same.

2019 Bugatti La Voiture specifications

Engine

W16 8.0 liters

Power

1,479 hp @ 6,700 rpm

Torque

1,180 lb-ft @ 2,000 - 6,000 rpm

0 to 60 mph

2.4 seconds

Top Speed

260 mph (est.)


Further Reading

Unique Bugatti La Voiture Noire Pays Tribute to the iconic Atlantic in Geneva

Read our full review on the 2018 Bugatti Chiron.

Read our full review on the 2018 Bugatti Chiron Sport.

Read our full review on the 2019 Bugatti Divo.

Read our full review on the 2016 Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo.