Building the £2 million Bugatti Chiron

Next month (March 2017) the first customers of the new Bugatti Chiron will be receiving their cars. They will have paid 2.4 million euro for the privilege of owning a 1479bhp machine that is capable of accelerating from 0-62mph in less than 2.5 seconds.

We went over to Bugatti’s Molsheim ‘Atelier’ to watch the 20 engineers tasked with hand-assembling each car, a process which from start to finish takes between six and nine months.

The Atelier’s surgically white epoxy floor is conductive to dissipate any ECU-upsetting electrostatic charges. The only electronic tool used in chassis assembly is a ‘nutrunner’ system which data-logs chassis bolts and then signals the assembly engineer when the correct torque has been applied. With more than 1800 bolted joints and a potential top speed of 261mph, accuracy is vital.

We watched the engineers marry the monocoque and the rear end, the key moment in a one-week chassis assembly procedure. Every individual member of of staff must have the ability and knowledge to assemble the entire chassis.

The biggest single investment in the Chiron’s preparation programme has been the upgrading of the rolling-road dynamometer used to test the car’s power. Bugatti says that it is the most powerful of its type anywhere. The old unit would have been broken by the immense 1479bhp/1179lb ft outputs of the Chiron. The new dyno can generate up to 1200A of electricity when in use. Excess power is piped into Molsheim’s town grid.