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- Bespoke one-off hypercar honouring the Veyron and Ferdinand Karl Piëch.
- Features a 1,600-horsepower quad-turbo W16 engine from the Chiron Super Sport.
- Second creation of Bugatti’s Programme Solitaire, priced at AUD$17 million.
- Dashboard integrates a self-winding Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon watch.
- Employs advanced paint layering and 3D-machined solid aluminium horseshoe grille.
Not that the price of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon matters much, considering the costs of this one-off Bugatti commission. It’s called the F.K.P. Hommage, and sources close to Autocar suggest that it will cost upwards of €10 million (AUD$17 million) by the time it lands in the unnamed client’s driveway.
With a clear resemblance to the Bugatti Veyron, it joins Brouillard as the second creation of Programme Solitaire. Here, the vehicle’s name and character pay tribute to the creator of the revolutionary W engine configuration that would power the brand into the history books. Chairman of the Volkswagen Group, Prof. Dr Ferdinand Karl Piëch, sketched the quad-turbocharged W16 engine on a bullet train in Japan, a smart, but somewhat perplexing next step for the brand that would follow the VR6 and W8 before it. While most engines of this magnitude would typically measure more than one metre, the W16 was just 645 millimetres in length.
It would produce more than 1,000 horsepower and be placed into the Bugatti Veyron, a vehicle the world had never imagined. It was the fastest production car on the planet (253 mph, 407 km/h), but also a remarkably comfortable daily driver and a lovely place to spend time. With perfect weight distribution, it even handled corners well. Here, the Bugatti F.K.P. Hommage has been created through the brand’s “Programme Solitaire” and pays tribute to the Veyron, but with the heart of the much newer, even faster Bugatti Chiron.
That’s right, it’s powered by a 1,600-horsepower quad-turbocharged engine that was first introduced in the Chiron Super Sport. While the Veyron never reached the ambitious 300 mph target due to tyre technology, the Chiron Super Sport fulfilled Piëch’s speed ambitions by exceeding 300 mph with a run at the brand’s purpose-built facility, setting a world record of 490.48 km/h (304.77 mph).
This engine will soon be retired, set to be replaced by the Bugatti Tourbillons 8.3-litre naturally aspirated V16 engine. However, the engine in the Bugatti F.K.P. Hommage represents the pinnacle of W16 development and features the Chiron Super Sport’s larger turbochargers, enhanced intercoolers, upgraded cooling systems, and a reinforced gearbox capable of handling the increased torque.
“Prof. Dr Ferdinand Karl Piëch was the ultimate engineer, always demanding that his cars had the very latest and most advanced technology,” said Frank Heyl, Bugatti Design Director. “So for the F.K.P. Hommage, we honour his vision with the highest specification engine of 1,600 hp, the reinforced double-clutch gearbox, the latest tyre compounds and optimised thermo- and aerodynamics – all the latest developments across 20 years of W16 evolution, wrapped in the timeless shape of a Veyron. It was a tremendous honour to work directly with the client on this project, refining every detail through multiple iterations to create what I consider the ideal, definitive Veyron.”
It shapes up to be the ultimate “money no object,” retro-mod, but instead of swapping an LSX engine into your classic Chevrolet Corvette, Bugatti has created a modern-day version of its most famous car, the Veyron, with the heart of its fastest-ever vehicle.
We know this is a no-expense-spared Programme Solitaire creation, Bugatti’s exclusive initiative that creates up to two bespoke masterpieces annually. However, it’s more than that, because when we look closer, it’s not simply a re-shelled Veyron with a Chiron engine. No, it completely reimagines the bodywork, interior details, and powertrain with utmost levels of customisation. Look no further than the Audemars Piguet watch on the dashboard.
It’s hard to say exactly which reference this is, but it resembles the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon (ref. 26730ST.OO.1320ST.05). The stainless steel watch measures 41 mm in case diameter, 10.6 mm thick, and has a Calibre 2950 self-winding movement with a power reserve of 65 hours when purchased for a human wrist. However, here, Audemars Piguet has supplied a watch powered by the car itself. Placed inside an “island” finished in engine-turned polish, a technique borrowed from the finishing of Ettore Bugatti’s original straight-eight cylinder heads, it features a self-winding mechanism. Specifically, a gondola that rotates on a diagonal axis several times per hour, powered by the car, without an electrical connection.
Other interior features include a bespoke centre console and tunnel cover machined from solid aluminium blocks, Custom Car Couture fabrics woven exclusively in Paris, and a special circular steering wheel with a Bauhaus character, like the original Veyron.
Finally, the exterior design employs advanced paint layering techniques that go beyond the three-dimensional horseshoe grille, machined from a solid block of aluminium. There’s a silver aluminium-based coat beneath a red-tinted clear coat, creating depth and three-dimensionality that reveals itself as one moves around the car. Black-tinted exposed carbon fibre, we don’t do black paint, and it provides a contrast with a 10% black pigment integrated into the clear coat.
Like the Bugatti Mistral, the signature air ducts are maintained right behind the occupants’ heads to hear the full brunt of the quad-turbocharged W16 engine as the individual turbochargers spool.
“The Veyron was the first of its kind, and in the world of collectible automobiles, the first and last of a kind are always the most significant,” said Frank Heyl, Bugatti Design Director. “It created an entirely new segment – the million-euro hypercar that could travel to the opera in the evening and break speed records by day. When I first arrived at Bugatti, I was sketching developments of the Veyron, looking at how we could evolve the styling; ultimately these projects never came to fruition, but it feels almost as though Prof. Dr. Piëch could see we would have a need for them one day. If he were still here to see this ‘next opportunity’ made real, I’m sure he would agree that this is the most appropriate celebration of his vision that we could possibly create.”
More information about the Bugatti F.K.P. Hommage can be found at the brand’s website, linked below.
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