We brought you word just the other day that Bugatti had something new in store for this year's Monterey Car Week. And now the manufacturer has confirmed it. Called the Divo, it promises lighter weight, higher downforce, and tighter cornering than... well, we want to say the Chiron. And it will almost certainly be based on that model. But the announcement is conspicuous in its avoidance in mentioning the Chiron by name. That could be because it won't just be a tightened and lightened version of the existing model (like the Chiron Sport).
Along with its enhanced capabilities, the Divo aims to revive the coachbuilding tradition for which automakers like Bugatti were known in their earlier days. So we're expecting markedly different bodywork, as previewed by our rendering. “Happiness is not around the corner. It is the corner. The Divo is made for corners,” said Bugatti chief Stephan Winkelmann, who previously headed Lamborghini (and briefly Audi Sport) under the same Volkswagen Group umbrella. “With this project, the Bugatti team has an opportunity to interpret the brand DNA in terms of agile, nimble handling in a significantly more performance-oriented way.”
As we expected (and as per tradition), the Divo borrows its name from one of Bugatti's early racing divers. Albert Divo won the famous Targa Florio for Bugatti twice in the late 1920s, elevating him in the marque's lore to the same status as Pierre Veyron and Louis Chiron. The Alsatian marque will lift the veil off the Divo at The Quail – the “motorsports gathering” that's one of the mainstays of the weeklong Monterey extravaganza. Enticed? Better start counting those pennies, and fast, because Bugatti will only make 40 examples each carrying an eye-watering price tag of €5 million (or roughly $5.85 million at current exchange rates). And they've all likely already been sold ahead of time.
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