Computer-aided 3D design has transformed the way cars transition from dream to reality over the past 40 years. The computers haven't fully-taken over, however. Before the final design is given the green light for production, almost every car on the road will have been constructed as a full-size clay model for final evaluation by a highly trained teams of designers and modellers in a bright clean studio.
But despite having no fancy Royal College of Art training and only a handful of rudimentary tools, one Vietnamese farmer, thought he would uses the same process to build his own Bugatti Chiron.
The build is documented on the NHET TV YouTube channel where you can see the man and his friends kick the project off by creating a thin steel spaceframe chassis (and marvel at their relaxed attitude to safety while welding it). And although the finished car isn’t 100 per cent accurate, it comes impressively close given the amateur engineers were only able to take measurements from a tiny toy Chiron.
That’s a testament not only to their skill, but the amount of sweat blood and tears they poured into the project. It took two full weeks of gruelling 19-hour days to get it finished, or at least part finished: the next step is to attach an engine and make it driveable.
And this isn’t NHET TV’s first homebuilt homage. A glance through his list of other YouTube videos reveals he’s previously made other supercars. Those include a bright red Ferrari 488 and even brighter green Lamborghini Aventador, and before that he tuned an old Honda motorbike into a state-of-the-art BMW S1000RR superbike.
You’d have to be seriously visually impaired to mistake any of them for the real deal, and with a tiny 150cc motorbike engine, the Aventador isn’t in danger of breaking any speed records. But you have to admire the can-do attitude of the NHET TV team.
Keyword: Watch a Vietnamese man build a full-size Bugatti Chiron out of clay