Bugatti Chiron: ‘The Bugatti Line’

The mighty Bugatti Veyron, for all its Earth-shattering performance, mind-bending levels of (over-) engineering and imperious image, wasn’t an especially beautiful car. It may not have been outright ugly, but the curious jellymould shape (it would make a good computer mouse…) wasn’t adorned with any real show-stopping details, save for the exposed W16 quad-turbo engine and the two polished air scoops that flanked it. Perhaps this, along with the dominance of its engineering, its mass and its industrial, business-like engine sound, was part of the reason many felt it wasn’t particularly soulful in the impression it made, despite being a high watermark in automotive achievement. It seemingly left a lot of people a bit cold, and felt quite Germanic for a product of an iconic French brand.

By contrast, its sequel, the Chiron, is packing noticeably more flair and character in amongst all the titanic engineering and meticulously-shaped aerodynamic surfaces, even if the proportions essentially carry over from the Veyron. The designers aimed again to pepper the shape with references to Bugatti’s 1930s heyday, but this time seem to have had more freedom to give it full-on Art Deco overtones. The central crease that runs from grille to tail – which impressively continues over the still-exposed engine via a skinny fin, and is mirrored in the interior – references the riveted fin bisecting the entire Type 57SC Atlantic, for example.

However, both in profile and in a front ¾ view, the graphics are dominated by a sweeping line of trim that starts in the corner grilles and runs through the front wheel, along the bottom of the door and then arcs smoothly around the back of the DLO to end at the base of the A-pillar.

This graphic, handily trimmed in chrome as standard, to make it even more noticeable, is referred to as “The Bugatti Line.” On the driver’s right-hand side, the C-shaped line echoes the beginning of Ettore Bugatti’s signature, but on a more practical level, the line also serves to cleanly separate the vast side-mounted air scoops from the original main surface, in a way that allows the doors to tuck inwards, rather than have protruding scoops almost as tall as the car itself (this arrangement also helps create an aerodynamic force that holds the car steady at high speed, like lateral downforce). It defines the exterior, right down to a bare-carbon character line that appears to slip underneath it and wear the rear haunch like a tight cloak.

This line existed in subtler form on the Veyron, but only wrapped around the doors, not the DLO as well. The more prominent, metal-edged version on the Chiron is much more iconic and shows some extra confidence and character, much like the rest of the exterior – and indeed the interior, where the same line is found between the seats.