BUGATTI’S BEEN TO FAT CAMP

Looks like a Bug Type 35 has been getting jiggy with an F1 car from the future

Back in 2015, we published a series of images from Dutch designer Andries Van Overbeeke after he’d mocked up what the future of Formula One could look like. That ‘future’ was a jaw-dropping vision for the cars of 2017 – what we got in reality was nowhere near as cool.

In fact, those digital concepts were so eye-catching that they earned Overbeeke an internship at Bugatti’s design studio.

Now, after five years of graft, Overbeeke has shown off his latest project. Designed as a spiritual successor to the bonkers Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo concept of 2015 – the one that previewed the Chiron, remember – and taking cues from the iconic Type 35, it is the stuff of slightly sweaty dreams.

“The shape of the Type 35, with its long nose and short tapered rear, is clearly visible as the light blue cockpit surrounding the driver,” says Overbeeke. Yep, we can see it. Check out that wraparound three-stage rear wing, though, or the aero spikes running off the front wheel spats... not sure they’d get past pedestrian protection.

And this wasn’t some out of hours, behind the bike shed project either – the whole thing was apparently overseen by Bugatti’s head of design Achim Anscheidt and ex-head of exterior design Sasha Selipanov (now design boss at Koenigsegg) as well as other members of the Bugatti team, so it has an official stamp of approval. Ridiculously cool, right? And, who knows, maybe if we make enough fuss, Gran Turismo will make this thing a virtual reality.