This Bugatti Centodieci pays tribute to a Le Mans racer

So you can think of this as a late Christmas present. Here’s one of the ten Centodieci, and as you can see, its owner – based in the US – has decided to put their cash to great use, configuring their car to be a tribute to the last Bugatti to race in the Le Mans 24 Hours. 

Bugatti has won the Le Mans 24 twice, the Type 57 scoring up victories in the 1937 and 1939 races. But the last time the name lined up on the starting grid, things were very different to those glory years. 

The 1994 race is probably best known for Porsche’s loophole-exploiting Dauer 962 winning the race, the ten year old Group C design entered in the new LMGT1 class free of the performance limiting constraints imposed on its Prototype-entrant peers. And it was in LMGT1 that Bugatti returned to the 24 hour race, for the first time since its 1939 victory. 

The 1994 EB110 LM failed to finish the race, but it was fast, and it could have finished as high as sixth if it had been reliable. Multiple problems throughout the race, including all four turbochargers needing to be replaced, came to a head in the final hour of competition, when a tyre failure put the car into the barriers. 

Still, with its bright blue livery, French tricolours, and competing well and truly in the spirit of the GT regulations as a race-ready version of the already existing road car, the EB110 LM is fondly remembered by many. This Centodieci owner certainly thinks a fitting tribute is necessary. 

Under the expertly applied, faithful-to-period livery, remains the Centodieci’s 1,600PS (1,177kW) quad-turbocharged 8.0-litre W16 engine, sending power to all four wheels via a seven-speed DCT transmission.

Bugatti has no official plans to return to Le Mans at present, though the new Bolide hyper-track toy has had one or two corners of the internet speculating about – more in hope, than anything else – a Le Mans Hypercar entrant based on it. Until the French marque announces intentions to return to La Sarthe, this 1994 tribute Centodieci remains the closest thing you’ll see to a Bugatti ready to take on the world’s most prestigious endurance race once again.