Bugatti does a little extra special with this Lady Bug version of the Divo.
The Bugatti Divo is one of the many Chiron-derived models the company currently markets to the ultra-rich. It’s already a very exclusive and expensive product with a price tag of 5 million euros.
But one customer decided that the stock look was just not enough. So they worked with Bugatti to create this one-off ‘Lady Bug’ version of the Divo.
This unique take on the Divo incorporates a geometric pattern on the bodywork using two custom metallic paint colours – ‘Customer Special Red’ and ‘Graphite’.
The geometric pattern consists of 1,600 diamond shapes, all applied by hand on the actual model as digital ‘CAD’ drawings presented to many limitations. Following that were days of inspections, painting and more labour-intensive work.
Here’s the press release with the whole process.
PRESS RELEASE
Bugatti customers appreciate the exceptional. With the Bugatti Divo ‘Lady Bug’, the French luxury brand has once again demonstrated its high level of expertise in outstanding bespoke application and hand craftsmanship. In the timeframe of around two years, a very special Divo was created in close collaboration with one Bugatti customer, tailored with a one-of-a-kind custom paint scheme among other truly unique features.
The story of a complex development process
Shortly after the world premiere of the Divo in August 2018, the idea for a geometric-dynamic algorithmic fading pattern on the bodywork emerged in collaboration with the customer. What the collector from the USA had in mind was a strict geometric pattern consisting of diamond shapes in a unique color contrast. In collaboration with the collector, the Bugatti design and development team then set about developing the special colors ‘Customer Special Red’ and ‘Graphite’ – both metallic tones – to achieve the contrasting effect. The diamond pattern was designed to run precisely from the front over the sides to the rear – matching the silhouette of the Divo.
It took the team over a year-and-a-half to find and implement the technical and graphic solutions. However, few could have predicted how complex and difficult it would be to paint the diamonds onto the car body with precision and exact definition. This was due to the fact that the digital patterns in the CAD program bear little resemblance to reality: owing to the three-dimensional, sculptural form of the Divo with its contours, curves and ribs, the 2D-printed diamonds became distorted on the surface of the exclusive hyper sports car. As a result, they had to be digitally modified. All it took was one millimeter’s difference to ruin the entire visual effect. The diamonds also had to be positioned perfectly on the roofline, doors and rear fender edge in order to achieve a clean visual finish. Together with the customer, CAD modelers developed and simulated a diamond pattern design with around 1,600 diamonds. A highly complex and time-consuming task.
Weeks passed until the designers were satisfied with the result. Six meter long films applied precisely to the body of a test vehicle were used to check the pattern. With considerable patience, craftsmanship and skill, the designers finally found a way to match the CAD data with reality and pull the film over the deeply concave surface without the diamonds becoming distorted or developing folds.
The diamonds in the film are separated and transferred onto a transfer film, which is then stuck onto the body. Each one of the approximately 1,600 diamonds is checked and realigned if necessary. In early 2020, countless hours were spent on a test vehicle until the developers and designers were satisfied with the procedure. Shortly before the car was delivered to the customer, the final rehearsal took place on another test vehicle.
With considerable patience and instinct, the team first of all applied the film to the roofline with millimeter precision, constantly checking the positioning in relation to the door joint line and rear end.
Once the Bugatti Divo ‘Lady Bug’ had been finally processed, there were no major complications. Employees checked each and every diamond over several days to ensure that they were positioned accurately, trimming them if necessary or replacing the shapes. The next task was to perform the actual painting and the painstaking and meticulous removal of each diamond. ‘Graphite’ and clearcoat were applied on top of the effect paint ‘Customer Special Red’ in order to invert the pattern. As part of this process, the paintwork was sanded, smoothed, checked, retouched and then re-sanded. It took the paintwork artist over two weeks until his work was completed to perfection.
Highly customized, high-powered and exclusive. With the Divo, Bugatti has developed a hyper sports car that revives the luxury car manufacturer’s coachbuilding tradition. It is powered by Bugatti’s iconic 1,500 PS, 8-liter W16 engine, with a top speed restricted to 380 km/h. The Divo is limited to just 40 units in total, each priced at 5 million euros net plus options, and produced in the Atelier in Molsheim. The first deliveries of the hyper sports car were made in August 2020, and all Divo cars will have been handed over to their owners within the first few months of 2021.
