- A Bugatti Mistral just set the world record for fastest street-legal open-top car
- The marque used a customer car to set the blistering 282-mph (453.9-km/h) record
- The Mistral rocks some 1,500 horsepower, and this particular one gets a one-off paint job
Recommended Videos
The hypercar speed wars are back in the spotlight, with a blistering top-speed run just pulled off by Bugatti’s Mistral roadster. A specially commissioned version of the carmaker’s limited-series roadster early November set a record speed of 282 mph (453.9 km/h) during a Vmax run at Germany’s ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg test track, making it the fastest road-legal car without a roof.
The impressive feat was achieved November 9, and obliterated the previous 265.5-mph (427.3-km/h) record set by the Hennessey Venom GT Spyder back in 2016 (a record Hennessey itself wrenched from Bugatti’s 254-mph Veyron Vitesse). The Mistral was driven by legendary Bugatti test driver Andy Wallace, the same person who broke the 300-mph barrier in a Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+.
It was just in September 2024 that Mate Rimac, CEO of Bugatti Rimac, reversed an earlier decision and announced that Bugatti would start chasing speed records again. Now we have some more clarity behind that move. The record was there for the taking, and Bugatti, a proven speed-record-breaker, could not resist.
The latest record set by the Bugatti Mistral is an astonishing feat of engineering brilliance. Being a roadster, the Mistral’s roofless body style presents a unique set of aerodynamic challenges, especially at high speeds. Making the task even more daunting was the fact that the record was not achieved at Ehra-Lessien, the site of Bugatti’s earlier speed runs, famous for its 5.4-mile (8.7-kilometre) straight. ATP’s Papenburg test track has a much shorter straight, about 2.5 miles (4 km) long, meaning Wallace had to exit the banking corners at extremely high speeds in order to hit the 282-mph target.
The Mistral, which shares its name with a Southerly French wind, is a limited run of open-top Bugattis launched as a final tribute to Bugatti’s legendary W16 engine. Capped at 99 units, the Mistral shares its underpinnings with the Bugatti Chiron SuperSport. That means packed within its unique roofless frame is a monster powerplant with over 1,500 hp on tap.
In the past, Bugatti celebrated its record-breaking runs with a few cars draped in its now iconic black-and-orange colour scheme. It’s different this time around. The Mistral used for the top-speed record is in fact a customer car. The owner also has a record-setting Veyron Super Sport, Vitesse, and Chiron Super Sport 300+ in matching colours, and commissioned Bugatti to build the Mistral as a one-off in that black-carbon-with-orange scheme and use it to set the record.
These speed runs count for little more than bragging rights in the real world; one can hardly reach anything close to these numbers on public highways anyway. However, in the rarefied hypercar world, where rivals are so closely matched, bragging rights can be a really big deal, and Bugatti just earned a whole chunk—for now.
Sign up for our newsletter Blind-Spot Monitor and follow our social channels on Instagram ,Facebook and X to stay up to date on the latest automotive news, reviews, car culture, and vehicle shopping advice.