- Bugatti created the one-off Mistral through its Sur Mesure programme.
- The design references The Little Prince through moon and star motifs.
- A hidden prince-and-fox artwork appears when the air brake deploys.
Bugatti’s W16 Mistral is already a rare thing: an open-top hypercar built around the brand’s mighty W16 engine. But this one-off Sur Mesure commission takes the drama somewhere more personal.
Called the W16 Mistral Le Retour du Jeune Prince, or The Return of the Young Prince, the car was created for a Bugatti collector whose own literary work was inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince. The result is less a simple colour-and-trim exercise, more a rolling storybook with rather more cylinders than usual.
Moonlight, metal and meaning
The project began in October 2023 at Bugatti’s Molsheim home, where the customer worked with Jascha Straub, Manager of Sur Mesure and Individualization, to shape the creative direction.
The final concept centres on earth, moonlight and stars.
Bugatti developed a dedicated colourway with copper and bronze tones, using a metallic finish intended to shift with the light across the Mistral’s sculpted bodywork.
Even the horseshoe grille has been reworked. Its internal lines follow the upward flow of the bonnet, while the Bugatti Macaron outline is finished in gold. Copper brake calipers and matching EB wheel emblems carry the warmer tones around the car.
Stars across the wings
The celestial theme becomes more obvious at the rear, where silver stars are worked into the paint across the rear flanks and upper surface of the rear wing.
Bugatti says the effect required a careful process of layering and refinement by its specialists.
There is also a hidden flourish for those who know the source material.
When the air brake deploys, it reveals a painted reinterpretation of the famous prince-and-fox scene from Saint-Exupéry’s original story.
A cabin with chapters
Inside, the W16 Mistral uses two leather tones: Terre d’Or and Driftwood. The lighter leather door panels feature embroidered moon inlays, with star motifs stitched around them.
The theme continues through the headrests and centre console, where star-inspired detailing is set into brown carbon weave.
The gear shifter carries one of the smallest but most intricate details: a silver rose, created from a 3D scan of a real flower and sculpted into miniature form.
DRIVEN understands Bugatti has not disclosed the commission’s price or mechanical changes. Given the W16 Mistral’s existing status, though, this is clearly less about chasing another number and more about turning a customer’s story into a hypercar only Bugatti could make.
