THE GOOD LIFE Motoring
ultimately, its cheque book. However, in 2021 VW Group divested itself of its direct holding in the French brand. Today Rimac’s eponymous company holds 55 per cent of the business, with the other 45 per cent held by Porsche AG (which, rather confusingly, is ultimately controlled by VW Group). I meet Rimac as he is concluding a two-
hour quality-and-detail walk-around of in- construction hypercars. Since the beginning, Bugatti’s raison d’être has been extreme performance – something Rimac explains he does not want to change. The Tourbillon preserves its founding prin- ciples with a 1,800bhp V16 hybrid motor de- veloped by UK engine-builder Cosworth. Caged behind the cockpit of the new Tour- billon, it’s key to a 10-year plan that Rimac has developed. Before embarking on it, however, he had
to wrestle Bugatti out of the recent past. It’s a process he describes in a refreshingly straightforward manner. ‘Before I arrived, there was a really strong design team al-
WHEN I CAME UP WITH THAT, THE ENGINEERS WERE LIKE,
‘OH, THERE’S A MILLION RISKS. LIKE THERE’S A REASON WHY NO ONE IS DOING THAT’
ready in place,’ he says. ‘[They told] me how [under VW ownership] they had to all the time try to convince [VW] and beg to do something. Most of the time it [VW] was too conservative.’ (For context, it’s worth re- membering the company was still produc- ing hypercars capable of speeds of more than 250mph during this period.) ‘So, most of the things [the design team] would like to do have not been done.’ Rimac says the Tourbillon is the first hy-
percar to have 3D-printed suspension, de- veloped in collaboration with US-based Di- vergent Technologies. He explains: ‘When I came up with that, the engineers were like, “Oh, there’s a million risks. Like there’s a reason why no one is doing that. You know, why should we be the first? Let someone
Under the sleek curves of the Tourbillon lies a 1,800bhp V16 hybrid with 3D-printed suspension
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