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The literal engine that powered Bugatti out of the history books and into the modern world of record-breaking supercars is no more. On Thursday, Bugatti announced that the final W16 Mistral had left the factory, marking the end of production of the unique engine used in every Bugatti since the brand’s revival by the Volkswagen Group at the turn of the century.
Like that revival, the quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 was the brainchild of former VW Group CEO Ferdinand Piëch, who also pushed for the group’s purchases of Bentley and Lamborghini. According to the official story, even before deciding to revive Bugatti, Piëch daydreamed about a massive engine, sketching a naturally aspirated 18-cylinder behemoth made from three VW VR6 blocks while riding a Shinkansen high-speed train across Japan.
Bugatti
Bugatti
Bugatti
Bugatti
Bugatti
It wasn’t easy to talk Piëch out of anything, but it’s a good thing someone made the effort here. After VW bought the rights to the Bugatti name (following a failed attempt at revival that produced the EB110 and the aborted EB112 sedan), the goal was to slap the horse-collar grille on a car with 1,000 metric horsepower. The complex W18 would have displaced 6.2 liters and made just 547 hp, so it was swapped for the forced-induction W16 design that was first tested in 2001.
That engine powered the Veyron to production-car speed records in both initial 16.4 form (253 mph) and later Super Sport guise (267 mph). A heavily updated version powered the Chiron to its own collection of records, including a 304-mph top speed for the specially developed Super Sport 300+ version that broke the 300-mph barrier for production cars.
Bugatti
Bugatti
Bugatti
Bugatti
Bugatti didn’t plan on making a Chiron roadster, but the automaker never misses an opportunity for a high-dollar, limited-edition model. So to give the W16 a proper sendoff, it launched a crash development program to create the Mistral. The $5 million roadster debuted at 2022 Monterey Car Week, and set a new speed record for open-top cars (282 mph) in 2024, propelled by a 1,578-hp version of the venerable W16. The first of 99 customer cars was delivered in 2025. The last of those cars wears a subtle two-tone livery of Pearl and Sparkle paint, “the last of its kind” script throughout, and a dashboard plaque marking it as the final W16-powered Bugatti.
The divide between one era and the next is rarely this neat. Just days before the last Mistral was completed, Bugatti held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for La Manufacture, the factory that will build its next supercar. The Bugatti Tourbillon still has 16 cylinders, but they’re now arranged in a more conventional “V” instead of the “W” layout that was once a VW Group calling card at the behest of CEO Mate Rimac.
Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he’s not handling weekend coverage for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.
