Designer
Sajdin Osmancevic is a 30-year-old automotive designer from Bosnia.
After working many years as a freelancer, Sajdin moved to the Skoda Product Design Centre in Mladá Boleslav, where he was a member of the exterior design team for both the Vision iV concept car and the Enyaq iV – Škoda’s first electric production car.
Today he lives in Germany, working as a designer at Ford Europe while creating digital projects in his free time.
Project
The Bugatti Spartacus is an electric SUV designed to encourage car designers and automakers to push the limits, and deliver cars with a more distinctive character.
According to its designer, the model “embodies the beast spirit and combines it with Bugatti heritage”.
“This combination produces a moving statement whose body reminds of a strong and top-trained soldier, which is exactly what Spartacus is all about.”
At the front, Bugatti’s traditional horseshoe grille makes a strong statement even though it is covered due to the electric powertrain. The sculpted bumper has two vertical side intakes for brake cooling and an integrated aerodynamic splitter.
The carbon-fibre trim combined with the blue body shade and the 3D treatment of the surfaces make the car look like it is wearing a dress.
The aggressive headlights consist of many thin LED units for a high-tech and opulent look emphasised by the strong dynamic lines on the flat bonnet.
From the side, the proportions of the Spartacus are characterised by the huge wheels with a unique hollow seven-spoke design shod in low profile wide tires, the long and tall hood, the narrow windows, and the dropping tail.
Sajdin based the whole architecture around the oval line, which is a distinctive characteristic of the current Bugatti model range. The line starts from the headlights and extends towards the back, framing the greenhouse and creating two side intakes.
Below, the muscular body is sculpted in such a way to emphasise the strong wheel arches, recessing towards the middle.
At the back, the strong rear shoulders create a dropping tail with a sharp line surrounding the area where we would normally see a bumper. This design protects the LED taillights and also creates a visual contrast with the oval-shaped cargo space, which recesses on the sides forming two large inlets.
The EB logo at the center of the small rear door is complemented by “Spartacus” lettering on a carbon-fibre background. Below that is a heavily inclined diffuser with additional aerodynamic components matching the side sills. Since the car is fully electric, there is no need for a tailpipe.
Last but not least, the large two-part glass roof (similar to Bugatti’s “Sky View”) looks like it is connected with the side windows, front and rear windscreen, only to be visually divided by the continuation of the floating side pillars (front) and the discreet carbon-fibre wing (back).
Verdict
The Bugatti Spartacus is a futuristic take on the luxurious hyper-SUV of tomorrow. The sculpted yet minimal body with imposing dimensions sitting on those huge wheels definitely makes a statement, which is the main goal for vehicles of this segment.
Some might criticise Spartacus for its exaggerated proportions resulting in poor visibility and less-than-ideal aerodynamics.
We must keep in mind though that sometimes it is the designer’s role to provoke and push the boundaries aesthetically before a concept idea translates from digital to physical and fully functional, while adapting to the production-car needs and regulations.
A high-riding Bugatti with a focus on luxury and comfort instead of sheer speed and aerodynamics is a controversial move, but at some point it will be an inevitability. Bugatti has officially denied rumours about adding an SUV to its range but it does talk about a crossover which would answer the needs of the customers.
If it finally does offer a vehicle like this, it would offer a mixture of the level of luxury found in a Rolls-Royce Cullinan or a high-spec Bentley Bentayga, with the performance of a Lamborghini Urus or a Ferrari Purosangue while retaining the ultra-exclusive nature (and pricing) of a Bugatti.
If you liked the Bugatti Spartacus, you can find more examples of Sajdin’s work in his portfolio pages at Behance and Instagram.
The Spartacus Super SUV was independently designed by Sajdin Osmancevic for show purposes as a free-time project, and is not associated with Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S.
