The Secret Bugatti Concepts That Could Have Been The Chiron

Bugatti recently showed an alternative design proposal for the Tourbillon and now they’re giving us a glimpse at a dozen cars that could have became the Chiron. The 1:4 scale models were created as part of the car’s design process in 2008 and a few of them look better than the road-going hypercar.

There’s an interesting mix of ideas and shapes as some proposals are adventurous, while others are a tad more conservative. There’s even one that resembles a bloated fourth-generation Mitsubishi Eclipse.

More: The Bugatti Tourbillon Could Have Looked Much Different

While we’re glad a number of the designs didn’t reach production, the Alfa-esque proposal is interesting as is the aggressive model that features high-mounted scoops behind the front glass. It’s also interesting to see how many of the proposals had a wraparound windscreen.

The images were revealed ahead of a Bugatti event at the Nationales Automuseum in November. As you can probably tell, it will feature “previously unknown archive material and imagery … exploring the evolution of the brand over time.”

Former Bugatti design director Achim Anscheidt will be on hand and he’ll discuss “efforts to develop a second model series to complement – or succeed – the Veyron.” As you’ll likely remember, Bugatti introduced the Galibier concept in 2009 and the company was considering putting it into production.

We’ll hopefully learn more next month, but Bugatti also released a sketch of a previously unseen Atlantic Coupe study from 2008. They also revealed pictures of a 2014 Vision GT proposal as well as a 2015 T35 “racing vision study.”

Perhaps the wackiest car is the T35 Homage, which was designed by Walter da Silva. It’s essentially Bugatti’s Plymouth Prowler and it’s a fun idea that thankfully didn’t take off.