Bugatti’s Final W16 Mistral Has Paint Called ‘Sparkle’ And A Falcon Head Sculpture In The Shifter

After building more than 1,140 cars with its W16 engine, not including various test cars and prototypes, Bugatti is almost ready to finish production of the iconic sixteen-cylinder motor. Aside from upcoming one-offs that haven’t been completed yet, this W16 Mistral is the final series-production Bugatti to use Piëch’s moonshot engine, and the last of the roadster’s 99-unit production run to be completed in Molsheim.

The last Chiron that was built had an amazing hand-painted livery, which is pretty hard to top. While this final Mistral isn’t quite so extravagant, it is a beautiful spec with a creamy color scheme and lots of lovely details. Beyond just looking good, this Mistral might have the funniest, best paint color name ever: One of the exterior colors is simply called ‘Sparkle.’ I love that. There’s also a falcon head sculpture in the shifter, a piece of crystal glass in the center console, and embroidered sketches on the door panels. Yes, there’s a falcon sculpture.

I’m still fixated on Sparkle being a color name, but that lovely gold actually makes up a subtle two-tone livery where the other color is a pearly white, fittingly called Pearl, being used on most of the exterior. Sparkle is mainly found on the Mistral‘s lower section, but it’s also used as an accent on the side mirrors, hood, and engine bay. The phrase “the last of its kind” is written in Sparkle underneath the wing — imagine being the employee hand-painting that and you accidentally write “it’s” instead of “its” — and that script is also found on aluminum plaques on the sides of the center console.

Bugatti

This Mistral’s wheels are thankfully finished in bright polished chrome, an option that you sadly don’t see on many new Bugattis, and the badges are chrome as well. It also has what is maybe the rarest option on modern Bugattis: Polished aluminum engine covers. Almost every Bugatti since the Veyron has had an exposed engine bay, and most customers either keep the standard finish or have covers painted in a color. Jascha Straub, a longtime Bugatti designer and the manager of the Sur Mesure customization division, has told me that a low single-digit percentage of buyers have gone for the polished option, because it gets more visibly dirty and patina’d over time. That’s exactly why I’d want it.

The interior is completely covered in Magnolia leather, aside from the grey carbon fiber used on the door panels and dashboard. Ettore Bugatti’s signature is stitched into the headrests, and it’s used on the aluminum door sills. The signature is also used instead of the usual Bugatti script on the engine covers. Sketches of the front ends of a Veyron Super Sport, Chiron Super Sport, and Mistral are stitched in black into each door panel.

Bugatti

OK, now for the really wild stuff. Bugatti has a long history with 138-year-old French glassmaker Lalique, stretching back over 100 years ago when the two companies’ founders were close friends and business partners. Lalique started creating jewelry and art using crystal in 1950, the material used in this Mistral. A plaque set into the center console was cast in frozen crystal glass, depicting what looks like an old American hood ornament (a similar sculpture was given to Mistral buyers when they specced their cars) with the phrase “Spirit of the Wind” written below it. That’s a reference to the Mistral’s namesake, the fierce winds found in the south of France.

When Bugatti first revealed the Mistral show car, it had a little prancing elephant sculpture encased in amber and placed into the shifter, which was also made of wood. Production Mistrals used glass instead of amber, and some boring customers just got a plain leather shifter with no sculpture at all. Some creative customers, though, have come up with their own ideas to put in their shifters. One person got a mini Statue of Liberty in there, another got a 3D-printed metal rose, and one Swiss collector had a real 100-year-old Bugatti screw placed in the shifter of his mint green Mistral.

Bugatti

This final Mistral has a falcon head placed inside its wood shifter, which Bugatti says is “a nod to an animal of particular significance in their home region in the Middle East.” I think if I were going to order a Mistral, I’d put a dinosaur fossil in there. Maybe a shark tooth. A vintage Roman coin? How about a piece of moon rock? There are so many good potential options.

The completion of Mistral production came just a couple of days after Bugatti officially opened La Manufacture, its new factory that will produce the V16-powered Tourbillon. While we don’t know exactly when the first one of those will be delivered to its owner, seemingly well-finished prototypes have been running around France and Croatia recently. With that new facility, Bugatti will be able to make even wilder custom works of art, and I can’t wait to see them.