Bugatti: F.K.P. Homage

There are places where the hare and the hedgehog literally say goodnight to each other and where "Top Secret" is not a logistical masterpiece, but the natural features of the surroundings. Blue and white sky, mixed forest, a few fields, the school bus drives through. Okay, entry check, record personal data, sign embargo. A few standards are a must. Because here, behind the heavy doors of the Inmotion Studio south-west of Munich, the exact opposite of rural tranquillity awaits: the Bugatti F.K.P. Hommage.

We are here to see a car that is actually a timeline on four wheels. It is the completion of a 20-year story that began in 2006 with the first delivery of the Bugatti Veyron. Frank Heyl, Chief Designer of the brand, welcomes us personally this afternoon. He takes his time. Over an hour. It is a journey back to the beginnings, to the unyielding demands of a Ferdinand Karl Piëch and to the question of how to quote an icon without simply copying it.

Mr Heyl, we are standing here in a studio in front of a vehicle that builds a bridge. 20 years of the Veyron - from the first deliveries in 2006 to the anniversary in 2026. You were involved from 2008 as a young designer. When you look at this new one-off: Is it a journey into your own past or a glimpse into the future?

It's both. But above all, it's a redemption. As a designer, you often carry ideas around with you that are ahead of their time or for which there is simply not enough space at the time of series development. In 2008, we were working on a facelift for the Veyron, which we were unable to realise at the time for various reasons. Ferdinand Piëch had a credo: if something doesn't work at the moment, it never means "giving up". It means: "At the next opportunity." This car here, twenty years later, is that opportunity. It is a work with a cap full of humility and a large portion of respect.

You mention Piëch. He is the spiritus rector behind the modern Bugatti. The transcript of the story often mentions the magic numbers: 1000 PS, over 400 km/h. Where did this obsession with the 400 come from?

This is a deeply personal story of his. You have to go back to the late 60s, to his time as racing director at Porsche. He created the 917. The strategy at Le Mans was to drive over 400 km/h on the straights - at that time without chicanes - to pull away from everyone and spread out in the corners. That made Porsche a legend. But it goes even deeper, back to his grandfather Ferdinand Porsche and the Auto-Union V-16 Type C cars of the 1930s. For Piëch, these 400 km/h were not a marketing gimmick, they were genetic heritage. When he said that the Veyron had to run 400, he knew that this was the limit that defined a hypercar before the term even existed.

The W16 was needed to reach these 400 km/h. It is said that Piëch sketched the concept on a train journey in Japan. How much of this original "stroke of genius" can be found in the architecture of this anniversary car?

Everything. Legend has it that he actually sketched the configuration of the W engine, even as an 18-cylinder at the time, on an envelope in a Shinkansen. But the real highlight was the packaging. A normal 16-cylinder would have been well over a metre long - that would have ruined any handling. Piëch compressed this huge engine to a length of just 645 mm using the staggered VR arrangement. That's almost unbelievable. This was the only way we were able to maintain the Veyron's compact wheelbase of 2,700 mm and achieve this almost perfect weight distribution. In the F.K.P. Hommage, we are now utilising the highest expansion stage of this platform: 1,600 hp, larger turbochargers, reinforced transmission. It is the technical perfection of an idea that began in the high-speed train.

The Veyron always had a very idiosyncratic aesthetic. It never looked like an aggressive wedge, but rather massive, almost calm. How did you translate that into the new One-Off?

That's exactly the point. The Italian aesthetic of a Marcello Gandini - Stratos Zero, Countach - was always "wedged forwards". Everything pushed forwards. The Veyron was the first super sports car to do the opposite. It has a noble, reclined posture. It says: "Kids, you play, I'm the boss here." This one-off is geometrically different from the original Veyron in every millimetre, but it retains that aura. It is an understatement that only reveals its complexity at second glance.

What are these details at second glance?

We have utilised techniques that simply didn't exist 20 years ago. The carbon isn't just black - it's glazed with ten per cent black ink in the clear coat. The red is a liquid silver with a red clear coat. This creates a depth that literally models the light. At the front, we can see the L-shaped daytime running lights that we had already drawn back then. At the rear there are these deep tunnel lights in fibre optic technology. I had already shown this to Ferdinand Piëch 20 years ago in sketches. And the wheels - we call them "Neo-Machiavelli". It is a reinterpretation of the double 6-spoke of the original Machiavelli wheel of the Veyron.

This car is the second creation from the new "Programme Solitaire" department. What does this new level of customisation mean for Bugatti?

"Solitaire" is our answer to absolute connoisseurship. We build a maximum of two such masterpieces per year. This is not about mass production, but about genuine solitaires. We use the tried-and-tested W16 drive architecture, but everything else - the entire body, every detail of the interior - is customised. The F.K.P. Hommage is only the second vehicle of its kind after the "Brouillard". It allows us to realise design dreams without the compromises of series production. It's like haute couture in Paris, but on wheels.

This project has evolved for you over 18 to 20 years. You have discarded ideas, brought them back to life and now completed them. Competitive athletes have this effect: they train for decades for one moment, become world champion - and then everything falls away, they literally fall into a hole of emptiness. Do you feel this inner emptiness now, after this "graduation"?

(laughs) I'm far too busy for that. No, I don't have time to think about something like that. I don't even want to. I'm just someone who loves cars. I want to make wonderful cars. We've only just presented this vehicle and I'm already two projects down the line. Sometimes I don't even know what to do first - and that's a good thing. I don't allow negative thoughts or this emptiness. Maybe I can think about it when I'm retired one day. But now? The pace is far too high now.

So it's not an ending, but just another bar in a long composition?

Absolutely. The technology may change, but the story survives. We put the Type 35 next to the new Bolide last year - 100 years difference. Nevertheless, you immediately recognise that it's the same bloodline. Building this one-off for Ferdinand Piëch was a matter of honour. It is the summary of everything we have learnt on the W16 platform. It is the latest, the last and the best.

How did Piëch actually evaluate design? Were there long discussions about it?

Not at all. There was only one or zero for him. If he didn't like a design, his judgement was scathing. One word: "Dreadful." Then you knew where you stood. But he also pushed us. With the Chiron, he came in with a sheet of paper with a graph on it: engine power versus top speed. He said: "Gentlemen, I've calculated that we can go 450 km/h with 1500 hp. Do that. Or I'll find someone to do it." He didn't accept any excuses. This toughness drove everyone to achievements that we didn't even think were possible.

The interior of this One-Off almost looks like a mechanical watch. There are no huge displays. Why this renunciation of digital modernity?

A display will be old in five years and electronic waste in twenty. We want timelessness. The customer of this car is a big watch collector. That's why we integrated a genuine Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon into the centre console. Everything that looks like metal is milled from solid aluminium. The fabrics are custom-made from Paris, we call that "carcouture". Human feelings do not become obsolete. The feeling of turning a cold, perfectly milled aluminium knob will be just as fascinating in 50 years' time as it is today.

You've been with Bugatti for two decades. When you get into this car today and start the W16 - what do you feel?

It's a goosebump moment. This high-pitched starter noise of the W16 is unmistakable. It is the essence of an era that is slowly coming to an end.