8 Of The Fastest Bugattis Ever Built, Ranked By Top Speed

At more than one point in the past 100 years, the fastest car in the world was a Bugatti. Ever since automobile designer Ettore Bugatti founded his eponymous company in 1909, his name has been associated with high-quality engineering, luxury, and — of course — speed. Even as the company has gone through multiple owners and iterations over the decades, Bugatti is still pushing automotive technology and engineering to its limits and crafting vehicles with jaw-dropping performance specs (and price tags). Bugatti has won numerous major races, including Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix.

In the past 20 years, both street-legal and track-only Bugattis have broken speed records thanks to the powerful Bugatti W16 engine, including the Bugatti Veyron supercar that became the first production car in history to generate 1,000 horsepower. Since that benchmark was met in 2005, several other models from both Bugatti and other automakers have exceeded that output — in some cases by quite a lot. It's clear now that when a revolutionary new model becomes the fastest car on the planet, it's only a matter of time that another vehicle will eventually take its place. It's also clear that when that happens, the new titleholder may very well be a Bugatti. Here are eight of the fastest Bugattis ever built, ranked by top speed.

With a top speed of 124 mph, the 1936 Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic is certainly not the fastest Bugatti or even faster than many modern cars these days. However, it was the fastest road car ever made at one point, and deserves recognition for establishing Bugatti's decades-long tradition of building record-breaking speedsters.

The Type 57 SC Atlantic isn't just fast — it's also incredibly rare. Only four units were ever produced — sometime between 1936 and 1938. While three of the original cars are still around to this day and are considered by some to be the most valuable cars in the world, the whereabouts of the fourth Atlantic are currently unknown. If you were to somehow convince one of the three known owners of the Atlantic — one of whom includes fashion designer Ralph Lauren — to sell the coupe, you can expect to pay about $40 million for one.

The Atlantic trim of the Type 57 was designed by Jean Bugatti, son of Bugatti founder, Ettore. He named the car after his friend Jean Mermoz, an aviator known for his pioneering transatlantic flights — one of which he failed to return from in 1936. The Atlantic is built out of Elektron, a lightweight metal used in aviation that is composed of 90% magnesium, and 10% aluminum. It cannot be welded, and Bugatti needed to rivet components of the Atlantic together. The car is 3.7 meters long and powered by a silent, strong 3.3-liter straight-eight engine that could deliver up to nearly 200 horsepower. Its top speed of 124 mph was unheard of at the time, though many Bugattis would eventually leave that record in the dust.

The 1992 EB 110 Super Sport SS — which can reach a top speed of 218 mph — held a few records at one point, including the fastest series-production car at the time, accelerating production car, and car on ice. It was produced during the brand's era when it was owned by Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. between 1987 and 1995, before being acquired by Volkswagen in 1998. However, the name of the car pays homage to the original company and founder, as "110" refers to September 15, 1991 — what would have been Ettore Bugatti's 110th birthday and which was the date the car made its official debut. This is not the same as the nomenclature origin of the 2020 Bugatti Centodieci, which has a top speed of 236 mph and refers to the 110th anniversary of the company's founding.

The 1992 EB 110 Super Sport SS is powered by a 3.5-liter V12 engine with four turbochargers and 60 valves that can generate up to 8,250 rpm and up to 610 horsepower, which was a jaw-dropping number back in the early '90s. It could reach 62 mph in 3.26 seconds. It was also built with aluminum, fiber, aramid fiber-reinforced plastic, titanium, and a light carbon monocoque that weighed just 125 kilograms — the first road car to use this revolutionary material. According to former president of Bugatti Stephan Winkelmann, "The EB 110 established the DNA of modern Bugatti hyper sports cars with its combination of a carbon monocoque, all-wheel drive, and four turbochargers."

The 2021 Bugatti La Voiture Noire is one of the most expensive Bugattis ever made, and — with its engine capable of propelling it 248 mph — is also (perhaps not coincidentally) one of its fastest. The supercar has a mid-engine layout and this engine is an 8-liter quad-turbocharged W16 that can generate up to 1,500 horsepower and 1,180 lb-ft of torque. The La Voiture Noire can go 0 to 62 mph in just 2.4 seconds.

While its speed and price tag are obviously noteworthy, the La Voiture Noire might be most famous for its stunning jet-black design, which is partly inspired by the Type 57 SC Atlantic but is based on the more-recent Bugatti Chiron. Its ultramodern and unique front fascia makes the car look straight out of a near-futuristic sci-fi movie, resembling something between an insect-like Transformer or a hypercar-take on the Batmobile. Features include an exploded backbone, custom headlights, rear fascia featuring six exhaust pipes, and a single-piece body that is handcrafted from carbon fiber.

Each piece of carbon fiber is finished with high-gloss black lacquer to give the vehicle its noirish look. While its exterior lives up to its name (which literally translates from French to "The Black Car"), its leather interior instead sports a Cognac brown hue. Its W16 engine is the same as found in the Chiron, but the custom-built dual-clutch gearbox has seven speeds and its all-wheel drive system is also modified to allow for a more casual ride.

The 16-cylinder W16 engine at the heart of many of Bugatti's most remarkable models of the 21st century — including several on this list — was officially retired in 2024 and replaced by the incredibly powerful V16 hybrid powertrain. However, before Bugatti ceased production of the engine, the brand gave it a swan song in the Bugatti W16 Mistral, which can reach a top speed of 261 mph. Signifying the end of an era, the Bugatti W16 Mistral also came with a whopping $5 million price tag.

Notably, the W16 Mistral was the first roadster Bugatti produced in its Chiron era, as all of the other models were coupes with fixed roofs. The Mistral offers an evolved design of the Chiron's iconic C-line, with the upper edge of its windshield and side windows seamlessly curving around the side air intakes and continuing beneath the side windows to merge into the hypercar's signature front horseshoe grille. In line with its tighter build, the engine air intakes are kept separate from the oil cooler intakes and are instead behind the passengers on the Mistral's roof. The interior of the roadster is more directly lifted from the Chiron — using materials such as titanium, wood, and leather — and providing a comfortable, luxurious ride that also allows drivers to still clearly read the dash while traveling at speeds over 200 mph.

The 8-liter W16 engine can deliver up to 1,180 lb-ft of torque and 1,578 horsepower at 6,700 rpm — so it's no surprise the roadster is as fast as it is. The Mistral, which has a seven-speed gearbox and all-wheel drive, can go 0-60 in 2.4 seconds.

It's right there in the name — the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport World Record Edition is one of the fastest supercars ever made — and has reached a top speed of 268 mph. Like many road-legal supercars, the Veyron is sold with a limiter, which was deactivated for its record-breaking speed run. With the limiter in place, the vehicle's top speed is still a very respectable 268 mph. While the Veyron Super Sport is one of the fastest of the fast, other Bugatti models in the line, such as the 2005 Veyron 16.4 and 2009 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport are also in its league, having a top speeds of 248 mph and 254 mph, respectively.

The W16 that powers the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport has a 7,993 cc displacement and can generate up to 1,200 horsepower at 6,400 rpm, as well as up to 1,500 Nm of torque at 3,000-5,000 rpm. The Veyron Super Sport can go 0-62 mph in 2.5 seconds and triple that speed in under 15 seconds flat. It can cross a quarter-mile in 9.7 seconds. The vehicle has three distinct ride heights, with its front diffuser ride flaps opening automatically for urban traffic and speeds up to 112 mph. The flaps can be manually opened for optimal handling on tracks and rural roads, while they can be manually shut with a separate key to reach the absurd top speeds of the Super Sport (starting at around 233 mph).

In SlashGear's first drive review of the Bugatti Chiron, we referred to the Bugatti Chiron as the "holy grail of hyper-fast production cars." While the Chiron is well-known for its luxurious craftsmanship and aesthetics, the coupe's performance and speed are perhaps its most notable features. Named after Louis Chiron — one of Bugatti's most successful and famous drivers from the 1920s and '30s — the hypercar has one of the highest top speeds of any Bugatti ever, and can reach speeds up to 285 mph, according to the company. However, that jaw-dropping top speed is only possible without its limiter — under normal circumstances, the Chiron can hit up to 261 mph.

The Chiron has a mid-engine 7,993 cc W16 has four turbochargers equipped with two-stage turbocharging and intercooling, which can deliver up to 1,500 horsepower at 6,700 rpm and 1,600 Nm at 2,000-6,000 rpm. It can go from 0-60 in 2.4 seconds and takes 32.6 seconds to nearly 250 mph. Of course, the brakes are also top quality, with the Chiron sporting 420-millimeter front discs with 8-piston calipers and 400-millimeter rear discs with six-piston calipers for optimal stopping power. With these equipped, the Chiron can go 0-60 mph to 0 mph in under five seconds and make a full stop after going from 0-248 mph in just under 42 seconds.

While the standard Chiron is lightning on wheels, the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ trim will leave it in the dust and is a testament to the brand's engineering prowess, showing what Bugatti does best. The "300+" in its name does indeed refer to its top speed, which has reached 304 mph.

At the time, the Super Sport 300+ was the fastest production car ever made. Built with carbon fiber in several components — including the windshield wipers — the lightweight vehicle is propelled by an 8-liter W16 engine that can output up to 1,600 horsepower. Bugatti also developed new software and a thermal management system for both the engine and gearbox for even more enhanced performance. Plus, the car's longtail and other elements of its design improve aerodynamics to push the speed even further.

"In the long history of Bugatti, there are vehicles that come to define their era," said ​​Christophe Piochon, President of Bugatti Automobiles, when the 300 mph barrier was first shattered. "The Type 35 transformed motor racing, the Type 41 Royale redefined opulence, the Type 57 SC set new standards for design, and now there is the Chiron Super Sport 300+, hitting speeds that were long thought to be impossible in a production car. Its achievements have secured it legendary status in the Bugatti history books." However, it was only a couple of years before Bugatti would make an even faster car — the Bolide.

The Bugatti Bolide may be — at least at the moment — the fastest Bugatti ever built. However, unlike the Super Sport 300+ and many of the other vehicles on this list, it's a track-only model that isn't street legal. That may be for the best — Bugatti says that, based on simulations and without a limiter, the Bolide is capable of hitting 311 mph — so you wouldn't exactly want the Bolide tearing down local roads anyway. Electronically limited, the top speed of the Bolide is still a more-than-breezy 236 mph.

The Bolide is powered by the 8-liter quad-turbo W16 engine and can deliver up to 1,600 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 1,600 Nm of torque starting at 2,250 rpm. Made from an advanced monocoque using high-quality carbon fibers that are typically reserved for Formula 1 and Le Mans racers, the Bolide weighs 1,450 kilograms and has a downforce of nearly 3,000 kilograms at top speed. The original Bolide prototype had even more jaw-dropping specs, weighing just 1,260 kilograms and capable of 1,824 horsepower. Some of the added weight was to make the ride more comfortable for buyers, and Bugatti says that the revised design of the Bolide still offers a luxurious experience for passengers while racing around the track thanks to included climate control, power steering, and ergonomically-designed seats.

With such excessive speeds, Bugatti also made sure the Bolide would offer its riders top-of-the-line safety features, such as an FIA-approved six-point harness system for both passengers. The harnesses will keep passengers stable and secure even as they withstand up to 2.5 Gs of force the Bolide can pull while cornering.