These Zebra-Striped Bugatti Chirons Took 5 Weeks to Paint
Both a Chiron Super Sport and Chiron Pur Sport with custom Vagues de Lumière liveries recently left the factory.
Every Bugatti Chiron is special, with each hypercar's owner selecting their own personalized spec in terms of paint color, interior scheme, trim options and more. But some Chirons are a lot more special than others, which is where the brand's Sur Mesure customization arm comes in. Its two latest creations are a Chiron Pur Sport and Chiron Super Sport that feature the same type of hand-painted Vagues de Lumière liveries, which each took five weeks to complete. And they're incredible.
Before I dive into these wonderful Chirons, a bit of context for their crazy Zebra-like paintwork. Back in 2011, Bugatti released the one-off Veyron L'Or Blanc, which had a two-tone blue and white scheme inspired by the way reflections naturally fall on the car's bodywork. It was a spectacular thing to behold, especially as the stripes are slightly asymmetric; the L'Or Blanc also featured interior trim and exterior accents made from real porcelain.
The striped effect is very unique.
The Vagues de Lumière (waves of light) creation process is intense. First, the artisans create the 2D shapes that will form the stripes, which are applied to the body as tape to mask off what to paint with extreme precision. The accents are then painted on by hand, with multiple layers used to give the livery a deep shine that mimics a reflection of light. Finally, layers of clear coat are applied. It's a process reminiscent of the 'Ladybug' Divo that was created last year, which was so complicated that Bugatti nearly gave up.
This isn't the first time Bugatti has done cars inspired by the L'Or Blanc either: A one-off Chiron 'Zebra' with bright teal paint and dark gray stripes was created in 2019, and there's a Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse with a red and black L'Or Blanc scheme.
Of the two Chirons the Super Sport is definitely the louder one, with California Blue as the base paint and Arancia Mira, a Lamborghini-sourced bright orange, used as the accent color. The reflection stripes even extend into the Super Sport's oval vent pattern on the front fenders, which looks super cool. Arancia Mira is also used on the (frankly ugly) 5-spoke wheels, the number 38 in the horseshoe grille and the lettering in the engine bay. Bright orange is also used for the interior, and the Super Sport has the Sky View roof option.
The Pur Sport's carbon body alone costs over $300,000.
But it's the Pur Sport's spec that's truly stunning. Instead of paint its bodywork is finished in navy blue-tinted exposed carbon fiber, an option that costs over $300,000 on its own. The Vagues de Lumière stripes are Nocturne black paint, and they really do look like reflections at first. The stripes are applied in their own unique pattern for this Pur Sport, highlighting its racier design. French flags are found on the wing's end plates, and the 9 in the grille, wing accents and center caps are painted French Racing Blue. The Pur Sport's interior is covered in Beluga Black and French Racing Blue leather, and it's got the Sky View as well.
Bugatti announced in January that the Chiron's 500-unit production run was fully sold out, with the final Super Sport and Super Sport 300+ models to be built by the end of 2022. We're sure to see more wild Sur Mesure creations come out of those final cars, but Bugatti will have many opportunities for show-stopping creations after that. The Centodieci will enter production later this year, and the track-only, also sold-out Bolide will start getting delivered in 2024.
But most exciting will be the first model to come from the new Bugatti-Rimac partnership, which will surely be electrified, more luxurious and more customizable than any Bugatti before it.
