By the time Bugatti’s latest short-lived regular production model, the Divo, began to see delivery, the opportunity for purchasing one had long gone. The metaphor is heavy-handed, but fitting. Bugatti models just keep getting faster, on the road and into automotive history, as the restless luxury supercar firm moves from the last jaw-dropper to the new model that really pushes the envelope.

And so enter the Bugatti Bolide, which the company developed as a one-off ‘what if?’ that would carry the marque into next year. The supercar’s shape leans more to the Centodieci side of things than the Chiron, with aggressive, track-inspired angles, gaping intakes, and enough graceful lines to call it a Bugatti. It was conceived as a purist expression of the brand’s philosophy, which describes it in terms of rebelliousness, extreme experience, and supercar fundamentals.

The Bolide, once thought to be a mere computer-generated fantasy, is indeed real. It packs the W16 engine, but the body is extraordinarily lightweight. Body materials include carbon fiber and high-tensile aeronautical stainless. It was given four new turbochargers, the exhaust system was opened up—as were the intakes, as one look will tell you—and the dry sump lubrication system was overhauled. The end result is a trim road-legal track car that can hit 62 MPH in 2.17 seconds, and 186 about five seconds later.

Like the recent one-off Chiron Sport ‘Les Legendes du Ciel’, Bugatti’s creatives see the Bolide as aircraft-inspired, borrowing the cabin design from aircraft design.