Would you pay R184m for this Bugatti?

RM Sotheby’s has sold a Bugatti Chiron Profilée for a remarkable €9,792,500 (R184m), a world record for a new car sold at auction.

An unnamed buyer scooped the one-of-a-kind sports car after an extended bidding contest in the Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, on Wednesday.

The sum achieved is significantly higher than the presale estimate of €4.2m to €5.5m (R79m to R103m).

The Profilée is a single, bespoke-engineered version of Bugatti’s acclaimed Chiron hyper sports car and the first and only “pre-series” Chiron Profilée produced. 

With the 500-unit Chiron selling out faster than expected during the Profilée’s development, it could not be introduced as a full production model. Rather than hide away this pre-series car, Bugatti decided to bring this one example to roadgoing reality.

Christophe Piochon, president of Bugatti Automobiles, said: “Unprecedented demand for the Chiron models meant that despite all the developments and tests we had already done, we could not bring the Profilée to production.

“But how could we not finish such a beautifully designed and engineered car? Offering it for sale at auction through RM Sotheby’s gave our customers and Bugatti devotees around the world a fair chance of acquiring and enjoying this truly historic car.” 

The vehicle features a rich, handcrafted interior with woven leather and bespoke aerodynamic developments, including the only sweeping fixed tail in Bugatti’s modern history.

Befitting the Profilée’s status as an automotive solitaire, Bugatti’s designers created a unique paint colour called Argent Atlantique for this car. To complement this finish, a Bleu Royal carbon tint was applied to the exposed carbon fibre of the car’s lower section as homage to Bugatti’s duotone pattern.

Other details that can only be found on the Profilée include a tailor-made wheel design inspired by the Bugatti horseshoe grille. The 380km/h car, powered by Bugatti’s 8.0l quad-turbo W16 engine, reaches 100km/h from standstill in 2.3 seconds.