The Bugatti Buyer

Only 500 Chiron supercars—price tag: almost $3 million—will be made. Yet some collectors already have two. Who are these people? 

- Hannah Elliott

This summer, French Volkswagen subsidiary Bugatti Automobiles SAS will bring the $2.99 million Chiron, the fastest zero-to-60 car in the world, to America.

It’s merely the second car the hyper luxury brand has made and sold since it was resurrected by VW in 1998 after almost 50 years of dormancy. And company brass think ultra rich Americans will be eager to shell out for it: So far, 30 percent of the customer base is in the U.S. But don’t all reach for your pocketbooks at once. Only 500 Chirons will be made, and half of those are spoken for. According to Bugatti, in the year since the car made its debut, more than 100 were bought sight unseen. (Think about that: Almost $3 million for a car you haven’t testdriven or even laid eyes on.)

A few of those buyers even purchased two. When a group of the first to order the car came to a test drive in Portugal, “some said, ‘Oh, wow, I want to have this car for my collection, but now I’ve driven it, I want another one,’ ” says Bugatti spokeswoman Manuela Höhne. The collectors wanted one to keep in their pristine personal showrooms—and another to actually drive.