For 19 years, the hand of Achim Anscheidt guided Bugatti design. Coming aboard as the director of design in 2004, his tenure started with the Veryon’s launch and will end shortly before the Chiron also retires. During that time, he’s amassed an enviable portfolio of rare and even one-off hypercars wearing Bugatti badging.
As a nod to his contributions, Bugatti created a short but very cool video showcasing his handiwork. Shared on social media, we watch as the Veyron and Chiron transform through various special editions and individual models, but keep a close eye on those transitions. There are a few surprises in there.
That’s because Anscheidt didn’t simply work on production Bugattis. Starting with the Veyron Grand Sport, the video goes through the Super Sport and Grand Sport Vitesse but doesn’t step straight to the Chiron. Lest we forget the four-door, four-seat Bugatti Galibier concept from 2009 that looked promising but never went into production. Apparently, Bugatti’s parent company Volkswagen wasn’t fond of the design, so Anscheidt soldiered on with the Chiron.
And yet, we still don’t make the leap straight to Chiron. First up is the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo concept, created for the Gran Turismo Sport racing game on the Playstation 4 but it wasn’t merely a digital machine. A real-life model using a Chiron prototype was built, debuting in 2015 as essentially a preview of the Veyron’s replacement.
The video then shows us the Bugatti Atlantic concept, a curious vehicle that was envisioned as a front-engined companion to the mid-engine Chiron. As such, it featured a very long hood with V8 power underneath, but it fell victim to the VW diesel emissions scandal and was never officially revealed. It surfaced in 2020, and for what it’s worth, we’re happy to see Bugatti revisit it here in this design tribute to Anscheidt.
From there, things are familiar. Debuting in 2016, the Chiron has been a benchmark for luxury hypercars with its 1,600-hp W16 engine. Aside from several Chiron variants, Anscheidt also gave us many coachbuilt models like the Divo, Bolide, Centodieci, and the one-off La Voiture Noire, among others.
His legacy isn’t over just yet, however. Development of the as-yet-unnamed successor to the Chiron started under his watch two years ago. Bugatti recently confirmed its next-gen hypercar will debut in 2024 with production starting in 2026.
