The Meaning of 'Sur Mesure'
For the average car buyer, customisation might mean choosing a premium paint colour or a different set of wheels. For a Bugatti client, it’s an entirely different universe. The brand’s official bespoke division, known as 'Sur Mesure' (French for 'tailored'),
caters to a growing demand for vehicles that are not just rare, but truly unique. This program allows a select few to work directly with Bugatti’s designers and engineers to create a car that reflects their personal story, interests, or passions. It moves beyond simple configuration into the realm of co-creating a piece of rolling sculpture, where nearly every visible component can be reimagined. The Mistral Blanc Eternel is the latest and arguably one of the most dramatic examples of what this ultra-exclusive service can achieve.
An Unlikely Alliance: Hypercars and Porcelain
The most startling feature of the Blanc Eternel is its extensive use of genuine porcelain. This is not a styling gimmick but a deep integration of the delicate material both inside and out. The project is a collaboration with Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin (KPM), a famed German porcelain maker. This partnership revives a creative bond first formed in 2011 with the one-off Veyron 'L'Or Blanc'. On the Blanc Eternel, porcelain adorns the iconic 'EB' emblems, the fuel and oil filler caps, and even inlays on the engine cover. Inside, occupants will find it on the gear shifter, speaker covers, and armrests. Marrying porcelain with a 1,578-horsepower hypercar is an engineering feat; the material shrinks by approximately 17% during the firing process, requiring meticulous calculations to ensure a perfect fit.
A Digital Skeleton Worn on the Outside
Visually, the car is a masterpiece of contrast. Its pure white bodywork is overlaid with a striking pattern of hand-applied black lines. This is not a random design. The lines trace the car’s digital DNA, mimicking the computer-aided design (CAD) surfaces, known as NURBS, that engineers use to define a car’s shape. The effect is as if the car’s digital blueprint has been made visible on its physical form, creating a skeletal, almost robotic aesthetic that highlights every curve and contour. This intricate paint job was executed entirely by hand, a painstaking process of masking and painting that turns the car’s body into an artistic canvas. The design inspiration traces back to an exquisite vase, giving the hyper-modern car a link to classic decorative arts.
A Cabin of Contrasts
The extreme customisation continues inside the cockpit. The exterior's digital line-work motif flows directly into the cabin, where the same sharp black lines are painted directly onto the pristine white leather upholstery. This required Bugatti to develop an entirely new process to ensure the paint would be both precise and durable on the supple material. The porcelain accents provide tangible touchpoints of luxury, elevating components that are usually purely functional. The gear selector, window controls, and even speaker grilles become focal points of craftsmanship. Every element is designed to tie the interior and exterior together into a single, cohesive artistic vision, a philosophy that lies at the heart of the Sur Mesure program.
A Fitting Farewell to an Icon
Beyond its incredible artistry, the Mistral holds a special place in automotive history. It is the final road-going Bugatti that will ever be powered by the legendary 8.0-litre, quad-turbocharged W16 engine. This power plant, first introduced with the Veyron, redefined the hypercar landscape. The 99 examples of the 'standard' Mistral roadster sold out almost instantly, each commanding a price of around €5 million before any customisation. The Blanc Eternel, as a unique Sur Mesure creation, serves as a fitting bookend to the W16 era. It is not just a car but a monument to an engine that changed the world, wrapped in a design that showcases the furthest reaches of bespoke luxury.
