A very special (and very expensive) Bugatti can now be witnessed in the metal in Malaysia.
It is perhaps a timely reminder that while Malaysia may not be in the pinkest of health economically right now, there are still plenty of Malaysians with cash to spare. Case in point being the fact that one lucky Malaysian has recently taken delivery of a Bugatti Divo.
With only 40 to be made and costing a cool €5 million (RM 25 million) a pop before taxes and shipping, deliveries of the Divo actually began late last year. It was only just recently however that one of these coach-built Bugattis has landed in Malaysia, as part of JP Chin’s ever-expanding collection of cool and collectible cars.
Now to those expecting the delivery of an ultra-rare hypercar costing tens of millions of ringgit to be a grand affair, the pictures of its wheels touching the ground in Malaysia for the first time would indicate otherwise however. Then again, this particular dark blue Divo looks to have come in its own rather nice wooden crate, presumably packaged that way all the way from Bugatti’s Atelier in the Alsatian town of Molsheim.
As for what makes this limited-run Bugatti so special meanwhile — apart from the fact that it is a limited-run Bugatti — the Divo marks the reentry of the (German-owned) French hypercar marque into the realm of coach-building. A tradition that has since continued on with the La Voiture Noire and the Centodieci.
Deriving its name from Albert Divo, a Bugatti works driver for over 20 years in addition to a French pilot during the 1920s, the Divo is actually in essence a Chiron underneath its radically altered skin. Interestingly though, it is not to be considered a direct competitor to the fastest production car in the world.
That is because the regular Chiron is still the faster car in a straight line, as the Divo is electronically-limited to only 380 km/h in contrast to the Chiron’s V-Max of 490 km/h. Having said that though, the 100 km/h top speed deficit is all intentional for the Divo, as that brings with it more liberties to have fun with the styling at these lower speeds, in addition to enabling this coach-built hypercar to be more agile and nimble on the track.
To that end therefore, the wilder styling of the Divo is also complemented by a suite of modifications to the Chiron’s base chassis and suspension setup. 35 kg has also been removed from the car on which it is based. All of which results in this coach-built hypercar able to produce up to 1.6 G of lateral acceleration (up from 1.5 G), as well as having the ability to lap the Nardo handling circuit some 8 seconds faster than its series production sibling.
And while the Divo is perhaps not as fast as the Chiron, it is nevertheless not exactly slow by any metric. Its mid-mounted 8.0 litre quad-turbocharged W16 still develops the same 1,500 hp after all, so 0-100 km/h times of 2.4 seconds is to reasonably be expected.
Just getting back to the wilder styling of this Divo, this coach-built Bugatti is differentiated from the Chiron by a more aggressive front fascia. Coming complete with a new front spoiler, extra air intakes on the bonnet and a boomerang-style front light assembly featuring twin tiny 35 mm LED clusters as its headlights.
Moving down the side, the Divo has a slimmer sideline that helps with the illusion that this multi-million hypercar is flatter and more sporty than the Chiron. Extra air intakes also appear on the side to aid in keeping this hypercar cool during hard driving. A responsibility shared by the NACA Air Duct air intake on the roof that feeds cool air into the monstrous motor.
Continuing onto the rear, the central fin which bisects the open engine bay is draws the eye to the 1.83 m rear wing that spans the entire width of the Divo. Though the real star of the show round the back would have to be its futuristic rear light signature, which is made up of 44 3D-printed fins that all light up individually.
