- A Bugatti Tourbillon prototype endures winter testing in Croatia.
- The car has been spotted buried in snow on multiple occasions.
- It appeared stuck once, though it may have simply been parked.
Bugatti unveiled the Tourbillon in the summer of 2024, but deliveries aren’t scheduled to begin until 2026. While that’s right around the corner, the company has been busy testing prototypes to ensure everything is up to snuff in the €3.8 ($4.5 / £3.3) million hypercar.
Unfortunately, these tests appear to have taken a turn for the worse as Car Spotting Croatia spotted a prototype reportedly stuck in the snow. Details are limited, but we can see a black Tourbillon off the side of the road surrounded by snow and slush.
More: Bugatti’s Hybrid Setup Is Lighter Than Its Old W16 Engine Alone
Someone appears to be digging the car out with a shovel, although it’s not clear if the vehicle was simply parked or drove off the road. However, the former seems likely considering a second image appears to show the same “VP1” prototype in the same location.
In that image, the car is buried in snow roughly half-way up the wheels. There was also a coating of snow over the entire vehicle, suggesting it was parked overnight and might have been buried in place by a passing snow plow.
Regardless of what happened, it’s unusual seeing a multi-million dollar hypercar buried in snow. That being said, we’ve seen plenty of prototypes end up in the white stuff including an X5 that left a test track and got stuck in heavy snow.
As a refresher, the Tourbillon has a naturally aspirated 8.3-liter V16 engine as well as three electric motors and a 25 kWh battery pack. They give the model a combined output of 1,775 hp (1,324 kW / 1,800 PS) and an electric-only range in excess of 37 miles (60 km). Despite the additional components and complexity, the car weighs less than the Chiron.
Update: Bugatti CEO Mate Rimac has posted a new video showing one of the prototypes being driven through heavy snow, though it’s unclear whether it’s from the same test session.
Sources: Car Spotting Croatia, The Supercar Blog
