Cristiano Ronaldo Did Not Buy The One-Off Bugatti La Voiture Noire

When reports recently surfaced that football sensation Cristiano Ronaldo was the owner of the Bugatti La Voiture Noire, we were a little skeptical.

After all, these reports surfaced out of nowhere and came after months of talk about the one-off Bugatti being purchased by none other than Ferdinand Piech, the former chairman of the Volkswagen Group. While we still don’t know who the owner of the car is, we do at least know that it is not Ronaldo.

In a statement issued to TMZ, Ronaldo’s spokesperson stated “The story isn’t true. He has not bought it.”

Taking to Instagram, Bugatti’s head of PR, Tim Bravo, said that despite being repeatedly contacted by media outlets about who the owner of La Voiture Noire, the French automaker cannot comment on rumors and speculation, “even less when customers are involved.”

“We respect their privacy and it’s on them, not on us, to decide if they want to go public or not. So, I can’t deny nor confirm the reports.”

While some may interpret that as a sly way to say that Ronaldo is indeed the owner, we don’t believe that he is.

It is alleged that Bugatti held a secret auction for La Voiture Noire and only allowed its top clientele to bid. While Ronaldo owns both a Veyron and a Chiron, it is reported that Ferdinand Piech was the winning bidder, purchasing the vehicle for an extraordinary €16.7 million ($18.66 million). If Piech is indeed the owner, we may never receive confirmation as Piech is a polarizing figure within the world of Volkswagen. In fact, it was only a couple years ago that the German car manufacturer considered taking legal action against Piech after claiming he had knowledge of dieselgate before it became public.

Bugatti La Voiture Noire Is the World's Most Expensive New Car

Winkelmann says that "the true form of luxury is individuality" and that this one-off expresses what the company is capable of creating. To us, it sounds as though La Voiture Noire isn't the only one-off that Bugatti is open to creating. But that begs the question: If this is "a tribute to perfect technology and perfect design" as Bugatti says, where do they go from here?

There's no such thing as a "cheap" new Bugatti. A standard Chiron—if you can even call one standard—starts at just under $3 million. Then there's the Chiron Sport variant, which tacks a few hundred grand onto that number, and options like the Sky View roof and colored carbon-fiber body panels raise the price even further. Finally, there's the Divo, which is a limited-run model based on the Chiron that's focused on track performance and costs just shy of $6 million. But today at the Geneva auto show, Bugatti has revealed a one-off car that truly does make the rest of its lineup look cheap and basic. It's called La Voiture Noire, and Bugatti says it's the most expensive new car of all time, costing its owner $12.5 million before taxes (or $18.9 million including them).

Technologically advanced in terms of design and production and able to reach top speeds of 125 mph, the Atlantics were instant icons. Of the four, the most legendary is the second car, which was Jean Bugatti's personal example. Called La Voiture Noire (literally "the black car"), the Atlantic was used in Bugatti's promotional materials and was only driven by Jean and a select few racing driver friends. After 1938, though, the car seemingly disappeared without a trace.

The car features an incredible design, showcasing what can be achieved when there really are no budgetary pressures on a project. The handcrafted carbon fiber body is sleek and looks sexy while also achieving the aerodynamic properties required for maximum performance.