The Rinspeed Bugatti Cyan: When Swiss Precision Met Italian Madness - AllCarIndex

It was 1994, the Geneva Motor Show — that annual temple of speed, ego, and engineering excess. In one corner, surrounded by flashes and gasps, stood a machine that somehow managed to make even the Bugatti EB110 look understated. This was the Rinspeed Bugatti Cyan, a deep-blue missile that mixed Swiss craftsmanship with French heritage and Italian horsepower.

A Modern Coachbuilt Dream

Long before the world obsessed over “bespoke” car specs, Ettore Bugatti was already doing it. He’d hand an engine and a chassis to a coachbuilder and say, “Go on, make it magnificent.” Fast-forward a few decades, and the Swiss outfit Rinspeed Design, based in Zumikon near Zürich, decided to revive that tradition. Their canvas? The freshly launched Bugatti EB110 GT, a car that already looked like a stealth fighter on four wheels.

Rinspeed’s idea was simple: what if you took the EB110’s ferocious engineering and dressed it in something even more exclusive — something that whispered coachbuilt Bugatti rather than screamed Italian supercar?

Blue Bloodlines

You couldn’t miss it. The Cyan’s skin shimmered in what Rinspeed called Bugatti Blue, or bleu de France, the same regal shade that once graced Bugatti’s pre-war racers. The bodywork was no mere respray either. The front end was entirely reworked — more assertive, lower, wider, with a gaping radiator intake that looked ready to swallow small wildlife.

The trademark horseshoe grille returned, not as nostalgia, but as function: it now fed the air-conditioning system through the front hood. The headlights were replaced with futuristic triplet projectors, tucked neatly behind glass for that clean, aerodynamic look. Even the side mirrors were reshaped to follow the cockpit’s curvature, while twin air scoops behind the doors channeled fresh air to the beast lurking inside.

At the back, a new electronically adjustable rear wing balanced the Cyan’s tail at speeds north of 350 km/h. The whole rear end was simplified, more technical than decorative — a Swiss watchmaker’s idea of aggression.

The Machinery Beneath

The Cyan didn’t just look faster; it was faster. Rinspeed swapped the EB110 GT’s 540 horsepower V12 for the 600-horsepower Supersport engine, still with four turbochargers and a titanium backbone. Torque climbed to a monumental 637 Nm, enough to make the Pirelli P Zeros (245/40 ZR18 front, 325/30 ZR18 rear) sweat for traction.

From 0 to 100 km/h took a claimed 3.4 seconds, which in 1994 placed it among the world’s elite. Top speed? Officially “above 350 km/h” — the sort of phrase engineers use when they’ve run out of courage or runway.

To keep things stable, Rinspeed enlisted BBS to create bespoke three-piece aluminum wheels — 9.5 inches wide up front, a meaty 13 at the rear. In a typically Swiss move, the bolts holding them together were hidden behind the rim, keeping the design immaculate.

And the soundtrack? Courtesy of Remus, which reworked the entire rear exhaust system into something between an aria and a thunderclap.

Inside: Blue, Brushed, and Beautiful

The Cyan’s interior was as meticulous as its engineering. The cockpit was re-trimmed in supple Bugatti-blue leather, wrapping the dashboard and center console in color-matched precision. Rinspeed didn’t do carbon fiber or flashy neon — instead, they went old-school with brushed aluminum panels, courtesy of Austria’s Burg Design. The result was elegant, cool to the touch, and reminiscent of Bugatti’s pre-war engine bays.

In true 1990s fashion, it also came packed with cutting-edge tech: a Nakamichi sound system that could shame most home stereos, and a Nokia 2110 mobile phone, then the lightest and smartest of its kind. The phone didn’t just handle calls — it could send data and images, making the Cyan one of the first supercars with a built-in modem.

Tested by a Champion

To prove the Cyan wasn’t just a showpiece, Rinspeed handed the keys to Jochen Mass, former Formula One driver and World Sportscar Champion. His verdict? Pure fascination. Mass reportedly loved the Cyan’s combination of brute power and polished manners so much that he helped debut it on television — not bad for a one-off Swiss concept.

The Price of Blue Perfection

Rinspeed never confirmed the final figure, but whispers placed the price tag north of 600,000 Swiss francs, complete with a three-year service package — tires included. Small change, perhaps, for the kind of buyer who wanted a Bugatti that even Bugatti didn’t build.

Why “Cyan”?

The name came from the Greek kuanos, meaning blue — the base tone of modern printing and the foundation of Bugatti’s identity. A fitting title, then, for a car that re-imagined one of the most storied names in motoring through a distinctly Swiss lens.

Rinspeed’s Bugatti Cyan was never meant to start a production run or challenge Ferrari on the street. It was an idea made metal: a reminder that even in the carbon-fiber-crazy ’90s, there was still room for craftsmanship, imagination, and a touch of eccentric Swiss genius.