A Bugatti powerboat? Really?
Chris Hogan, 7th March 2016, Boat
What would a powerboat designed by Bugatti be like if? Incredibly expensive, dramatically stylish and brutally fast? Probably all of the above, and if current plans come to fruition we'll be able to find out in a year or so.
Announced at the end of last year, the Bugatti Niniette will be built by Wisconsin-based Palmer Johnson, the world's largest luxury yacht builder. Boats will be based on the existing Palmer Johnson SuperSports line.
Offered in three sizes: 13m, 19m and 27m, the hull and super-structure will be made from carbon-fibre and titanium and the decks from a variety of woods. Interiors will be custom-built for each customer with the construction of each boat taking a year.
Boating heritage
It might seem odd for a car manufacturer to get involved with boats and it could easily be dismissed as a branding exercise, particularly as Bugatti won't be building the boats.
But the original Bugatti company, active in the Twenties and Thirties, was very much involved in the development of powerful racing boats. Founder Ettore Bugatti was apparently very proud of showing off his boat building projects when giving factory tours and there were (largely unsuccessful) experiments with dual Bugatti-engined racing boats just after WWI.
Later, during the Twenties and Thirties, speedboat racing was very popular and it was very common for car engines to provide the motive power. Bugatti engines and sometimes transmissions and drivelines powered a series of boats called Niniette. One even briefly held the speed record in 1931, recording 102km/h.
Luxury first
Alas the new Niniette will not be vying for any speed records. The quoted top speed of 43 knots is very fast for a large yacht but nowhere near powerboat speeds. There's another clue from Bugatti designers' statements that design cues for the yacht are being taken from the the Type 57C Atalante and Type 41 Royale.
.... the Royale .... was .... one of the largest and heaviest mainstream cars ever produced, 20% longer and 25% heavier than the current Rolls Royce Phantom.
Although the Atalante was a racing version of the Type 57C, the Royale most definitely was no racer - being one of the largest and heaviest mainstream cars ever produced, 20% longer and 25% heavier than the current Rolls Royce Phantom.
What about the price?
So the Niniette is not going to be blisteringly fast, like the original racing cars and the current Veyron. But rest assured it will be typically expensive. The smallest model is quoted at being 'from' €2million and the custom nature of each build means most will be a lot more.
Which brings us to the big question - will any Niniette's ever be produced? Mercedes, Jaguar and most recently Aston Martin have all announced plans to launch premium boats in recent years, but production models have never emerged.
Aston vs Bugatti?
It's perhaps too early to call time on Aston Martin's effort. The AM37 was announced less than a year ago but the prototype did not appear at September's Monaco Yacht Show as planned; there's also no news of the 'early 2016' launch. But news is still emerging occasionally from Quintessence Yachts, the innovative Dutch boat designer chosen by Aston Martin.
No prices have yet been announced for the AM37 but a top speed has - over 60 knots for the most powerful model. So those with the money to consider either of these yachts could be faced with an interesting choice later in the year.
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