The Bugatti Chiron has been rebuilt without factory-supplied body panels, survived a workshop scare and tested wearing one of the wildest kits ever fitted. British YouTuber Mat Armstrong claimed that a $700,000 carbon-fibre body kit is finally ready to hit the road, but the word «finished» still needs a small, expensive asterisk.
Why the Bugatti wreck could not simply be repaired
$700,000 body kit lost its biggest flourish
Five days turned internet outrage into Lambo purple
Rebuilding the doors became expensive Lego
The Bugatti nearly fell off its axle stands
Is Mat Armstrong’s Bugatti Chiron finished at all?
In a new hour-long video, Armstrong and his team turn a primer-grey collection of custom panels into a pearlescent purple, one-off Bugatti. They rebuild doors without instructions, fabricate air-conditioning pipes, improvise front grilles and come perilously close to dropping the hypercar from its axle stands.
By the end, the 8.0-litre W16 runs, the lights work, the air conditioning blows cold and the body finally appears to belong to one car. Yet a windscreen, roof glass, rear spoiler and several final adjustments remain on the to-do list. The promised top-speed test will have to wait.
Why the Bugatti wreck could not simply be repaired
This job at the body shop was never ordinary. Armstrong claims that Bugatti refused to provide his squad with replacement parts and insisted that the wrecked Chiron needed to be sent back to France for an official repair.
That meant the builders had to scavenge for recycled parts and figure out how to make everything else themselves. Detaching the vehicle, fixing the gearbox mounts, repairing the damaged structure, and starting the engine were earlier steps in the project. The mechanical rescue begins to take shape in the most recent episode, resembling a completed hypercar
Engineered to be the more nimble sibling of the Chiron family, the Chiron Pur Sport cost €3 million before taxes, was limited to 60 units, and had a price tag to match. The manufacturer lists 1,500 PS, 1,600 Nm of torque, 0–100 km/h in 2.3 seconds and a 350 km/h electronic speed limit.
The video refers to this particular car as a $6mn Bugatti, reflecting its rarity and claimed value rather than the model’s original list price.
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The $700,000 body kit lost its biggest flourish
Venuum of Dubai supplied the bespoke widebody kit. Some people thought it was plastic because of its grey surface, but according to Armstrong, the panels are actually carbon fibre with a primer and gel coat on top.
Using a hydraulically operated spoiler, Venuum scanned a standard Chiron. Unlike its predecessor, the Pur Sport departed from Molsheim equipped with a sizeable fixed wing and a unique mounting platform. Consequently, the vehicle beneath it was incompatible with the kit’s wing.
Armstrong chose the cleaner solution. After removing the Venuum wing supports, he polished the exposed areas and put back the factory-installed Pur Sport spoiler. He remarks, «I think that looks a million times better,» following the test fit outcome.
The team has been openly discussing future runs above 200 mph, so it was a reasonable concession to keep an aerodynamic component that had been tested by the factory.
Five days turned internet outrage into Lambo purple
The unfinished body kit had divided viewers, and Armstrong admitted he was not entirely convinced by it either. Paint changed the argument.
Florida technicians removed the car’s wrap and paint-protection film, disassembled it again, and prepared the original and carbon-fibre panels. Lamborghini-like pearlescent purple was applied to the shell. The larger job was finished in five days, but most of the painting took three days.
Silver wheels and engine-bay accents instead of bronze calmed the aggressive bodywork. This purple widebody Bugatti is still obvious, but it now looks intentional rather than unpacked.
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Rebuilding the doors became expensive Lego
Fresh paint was only the photogenic half of the work. The team still had to rebuild the doors, mirrors, windows and seals piece by piece.
Wiring for the mirror had been removed from its plug so it could pass through the narrow housing. Every pin then had to return to its correct position, or the folding, heating, and adjustment functions would fail. The windows also needed realignment against the seals – a minor detail around town but a screaming problem at 350 km/h.
Armstrong described the job as a «game of Lego with no instructions.» Ordinary Lego usually lacks a crash sensor or a door card trimmed to match a multi-million-dollar cabin.
The Bugatti nearly fell off its axle stands
The rebuild’s most alarming moment did not involve 1,500 PS. While Armstrong climbed into the rear of the car to reach a stubborn bolt, the front axle suddenly shot away, causing the Chiron to pitch upwards.
The team caught and stabilised it before the car suffered any further damage. A few seconds separated an almost-complete rebuild from a second rebuild – the workshop equivalent of the Voyah Passion S driving upside down through a tunnel, only without the rehearsals.
Is Mat Armstrong’s Bugatti Chiron actually finished?
Well, not quite.
The new purple body is fitted, the original Pur Sport wing is the chosen solution, and the car can move under its own power. The headlights, mirrors, windows, oil-filler release and much of the rebuilt cabin equipment also work. Custom air-conditioning pipes are installed, and the dashboard faults addressed in earlier work are no longer the headline problem.
But the video ends with a clear list of unfinished jobs:
- fit a windscreen and roof glass;
- reinstall the painted rear spoiler;
- straighten and align the damaged bonnet hinges;
- finish the silver centre stripe and exterior accents;
- complete the grilles, undertrays, arch liners and remaining trim;
- verify the car at speed.
Straight-line speed records have since moved on – the Yangwang U9 Xtreme reached 308.4 mph – but Armstrong’s challenge was more personal. He does not need to beat another hypercar. He needs to prove that this one remains a hypercar at all.
