Bugatti W16 Mistral Top Speed
In 2024, Andy Wallace, who drives for Bugatti and has won Le Mans, took the W16 Mistral to 453.91 km/h, or 282.05 mph. That makes it the fastest open-top production car anyone has built. Taking the roof off a car is normally the quickest way to ruin its top speed, because the air that used to slide over a smooth roofline now falls into the cabin and drags the whole car back, so the number is a bigger deal than it looks.
Full specifications
| Engine | 8.0L quad-turbo W16 |
|---|---|
| Power | 1,600 PS (1,578 hp) |
| Torque | 1,600 Nm |
| Body style | Roadster |
| Drivetrain | All-wheel drive |
| Transmission | 7-speed dual-clutch |
| Production run | 99 units |
| Record driver | Andy Wallace |
About the W16 Mistral
The Mistral is the send-off for the W16. That engine had been in Bugattis for two decades, first in the Veyron and then in the Chiron, and the Mistral is the last car it will ever go into. Bugatti treated it that way. The air intakes behind the seats were reworked so they feed the engine directly over the driver's shoulders, and the windscreen was reshaped to wrap around the cabin rather than sit on top of it.
All 99 cars were sold before a single one was delivered. The name comes from the Mistral, the wind that comes down the Rhone valley and out to the Mediterranean, which is about as on-the-nose as a name for an open-top Bugatti can get.
The speed run took place at Ehra-Lessien, the same Volkswagen test track where the Veyron and the Chiron set their numbers. It has a straight long enough that a car this fast can actually reach its limit and then still have room to stop.
Record set at Ehra-Lessien, 2024. Specifications from Bugatti.