The folks at Bugatti recently set a speed record for an open-top car with the W16 Mistral hitting a speed of 453.91 km/h (282.05 mph) at ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg in Germany.

The company announced the achievement in mid-November.

And, while Bugatti driver Andy Wallace was busy shattering the previous record, also set by Bugatti, the automaker brought out three other cars that at one time or another set world speed records, including the car that previously held the open-top speed record.

The cars that joined the W16 Mistral at the track included the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport World Record Edition, Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse World Record Edition and Chiron Super Sport 300+.

The Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, released in 2010, set a previous speed record of 431.072 km/h (267.856 mph).

The Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse, a convertible released in 2012, then set an open-top speed record with a speed of 408.84 km/h (254.04 mph). The record stood until it was beaten by the Mistral.

Lastly, the Chiron Super Sport 300+, set a top speed record of 490.484 km/h (300 mph) in 2019 – making it the first production car to break the 300-mph barrier. Several cars have since exceeded this mark.

“From 2010 to the present, Bugatti has celebrated the icons of its modern era with top-speed world record attempts,” said Christophe Pichon, president of Bugatti Automobiles, in a news release. “From the Veyron, through to the Chiron and now the W16 Mistral, the unmatched passion and dedication of Bugatti’s design teams has seen the W16 era defined by monumental achievements. Seeing each of the world record cars gathered here is a truly emotional moment for me; contributing to these projects has been an incredibly special part of my career at Bugatti, and they are pioneers in their own right – expanding the horizons defined by the last world-record accomplishment and taking our ambitions to even greater heights.”

A common component of the four cars above is that they are all powered by Bugatti’s W16 engine. In all its iterations, it exceeded 1,000 hp, producing 1,578 hp in the Chiron Super Sport 300+.

That engine is finally being retired, with its last hurrah in the W16 Mistral, a car based on the Chiron but with its own styling and an open top.

Bugatti’s next supercar, the Tourbillon, will be powered by a hybrid powertrain that incorporates an all-new V16 engine.

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