The technology behind vehicle paint these days is amazing. There are tons of choices available, from matte hues to colors that sparkle under the sun. That was probably what went through the mind of a particular Bugatti customer who wanted a Divo that looked different. And because this dude had at least €5 million (P293 million) to spend on a car, the French automaker must aim to please. But aiming to please this particular buyer was easier said than done.
From afar, the custom Divo you see here (called the “Lady Bug”) might just be another hypercar with a one-off paint job. After all, this isn’t the first time Bugatti has agreed to do something crazy for its clientele. Then again, does the company even say no to a customer’s wild request? Anyway, the process for creating this livery became extremely laborious that it took the automaker a year and a half just to get it absolutely right because the brand’s distinguished customers expect nothing less than perfection.
The easy part here is the special red base coat that was specified by the customer. But it was the diamond pattern that was extremely challenging for the guys at Bugatti. While each shape was uniform as a 2D pattern on a computer screen, it becomes distorted when it gets applied to something three-dimensional like a car. That’s why artists had to painstakingly modify each of the 1,600 rhombuses just to make them perfectly proportioned on the Divo’s body.
Even the application of the diamonds had to be rehearsed over and over again on a test vehicle. Once the special film was placed on the actual car, each diamond was scrupulously repositioned to perfect the alignment. After the contrasting graphite paint and clear coat were put on, the diamonds had to be taken out one by one so that they would leave red cutouts. This was then rechecked and retouched by Bugatti’s paint artist for over two weeks until he was satisfied with the result.
Bugatti says that it was close to giving up on the Lady Bug project. But upholding the company’s pride of making impossible things come true was likely the driving force behind the eventual completion of this one-of-a-kind Divo. It’s probably safe to assume that the customer was pretty pleased with the end result—a car that truly is worth every euro (and the very long waiting time).
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