The Divo Ladybug features a diamond pattern that took Bugatti almost 1.5 years to complete.
If you own a beautifully crafted high-performance hypercar like the Bugatti Divo, you already have a rare piece of art at your side. However, a US-based customer went even further customizing the hypercar. Namely, the buyer wanted the Divo to stand a class apart from the other 39 models to be built and commissioned for a custom, unique paint job. The French luxury automaker granted the customer’s wish, and the result is this one-of-a-kind Bugatti Divo “Ladybug.”
This American collector requested a Divo with a “geometric-dynamic pattern with a fading effect.” Although the Ladybug looks simply phenomenal, the whole process of giving it the appearance was so complicated that at one point, Bugatti almost walked away from the project. The most challenging part was to implement the unique pattern on the hypercar’s body precisely, and it took the design team almost one and a half years to do that successfully.
Bugatti Design’s head of color and trim, Jörg Grumer, stated, “Due to the nature of the project, where a 2-D graphic was applied to a 3-D sculpture, and after numerous failed ideas and attempts to apply the diamonds, we were close to giving up and saying: We cannot meet the customer’s request.”
But Bugatti was not ready to give up. It created this eye-catchy pattern using around 1600 2-D printed diamond shapes. Once the designers were happy with the computer-generated design, the next step was to place these diamonds on a 6-meter-long transfer film individually. Each of these 1600 diamonds was thoroughly checked and modified for days to leave no room for even a minor mistake that could ruin the whole design. Bugatti tested the entire process on two other Divos to make the project completely error-free.
After weeks of testing, the engineers eventually applied the transfer film to the Divo Ladybug before sending it for the paint job. The Ladybug was hand-painted with a unique ‘Customer Special Red’ paint followed by a metallic ‘Graphite’ finish and a Clearcoat to create the striking contrasting effect. The paintwork took another two weeks to complete with constant sanding, smoothening, and retouching at each step, wherever necessary. At last, all the diamonds were peeled off from the car’s body, unveiling a mesmerizing final design.
Grumer added, “The attention to detail required and the fact that we had to pursue a zero-defect strategy on the final car gave us tremendous respect for the project.”
With all that said, it is evident that such a complicated design and two years of hard work will come at a very high price. The Divo features an 8.0-liter, quad-turbocharged W16 engine that produces a staggering 1479hp and 1600nm (1180lb-ft). It’s already a costly machine valued well over €5 million (before options), but it’s unclear how much extra the Ladybug would cost.
More details on the overall process here.
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