Automotive

Volkner pulls out all stops on Bugatti-stowing $7.7-million motorhome

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Two shining examples of over-the-top motor vehicle engineering together in one package — the Volkner Performance S with Bugatti Chiron
Volkner
The Volkner Performance S comes in multiple floor plans; the show model has a front lounge/rear bedroom layout with driver-side expansion wall slide
Volkner
Volkner wows the Caravan Salon with serious hardware
Photo: Messe Düsseldorf, Constanze Tillman

The 1,480-hp Bugatti Chiron in the garage essentially doubles the price of the upgraded Volkner Performance S
Photo: Messe Düsseldorf, Constanze Tillman

Volkner gives its 2021 show Performance S a shiny BrilliantDark cabinetry and furniture motif
Photo: Messe Düsseldorf, Constanze Tillman

The first car to 300 mph, the Chiron is much faster on the highway than the Performance S ... but drivers will be much more comfortable spending the night in the latter
Photo: Messe Düsseldorf, Constanze Tillman

Inside the Volkner Performance S, the most expensive motorhome of the 2021 Caravan Salon
Photo: Messe Düsseldorf, Constanze Tillman

Stopping by Volkner's booth is always a fun part of walking the floor of the Caravan Salon, and this year is definitely not an exception
Photo: Messe Düsseldorf, Constanze Tillman

Enjoying ultra-premium motorhome luxury
Photo: Messe Düsseldorf, Constanze Tillman

Two shining examples of over-the-top motor vehicle engineering together in one package — the Volkner Performance S with Bugatti Chiron
Volkner
Morelo takes a page out of Volkner's playbook, dressing its booth up with a Maserati MC20
Messe Düsseldorf, Constanze Tillman

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In the past, we've seen Volkner edge out its few competitors for "most expensive motorhome of the Düsseldorf Caravan Salon" honors with stretched luxury homes as "modestly" priced as $1.7 million. This year, it leaves the competition in the dust, going all out on the priciest, most over-the-top motorhome package on the show floor. It slides a 1,480-hp Bugatti Chiron aboard its $2.4-million Performance S motorhome and treats owners of the elaborate ultra-luxury/hypercar vehicle experience to a lavishly appointed abode complete with custom Burmester audio system carefully tailored to the mobile space.

For more than a decade, Volkner has been wowing the Düsseldorf crowds with the sporty roadsters and supercars it manages to squeeze between the axles of its huge motorhomes. This year, it's really upped its own game.

The $3-million Bugatti Chiron actually costs more than the Performance S motorhome itself and packs more than triple the horsepower of Volkner's 430-hp 18-ton 39-footer. We preferred the Porsche 911 GT2 Volkner brought to the 2018 Caravan Salon not a full year after the car's Nürburgring record, but there's no denying that the Chiron and Performance S team is an absolutely stunning package, a pairing of extreme, over-the-top motorized engineering like few we'll ever see.

The 1,480-hp Bugatti Chiron in the garage essentially doubles the price of the upgraded Volkner Performance S
Photo: Messe Düsseldorf, Constanze Tillman

While something like a Porsche or Bugatti looks most impressive in Volkner's slide-out central garage, the company stresses that the garage can also be used for more everyday alternatives, like jet skis, motorcycles, ATVs or ebikes. At camp, the slide-out platform doubles as a front porch sheltered by the awning above.

The Chiron may be the most powerful, expensive adornment on this year's Performance S, but the interior is still the most critical – no sense in hauling your seven-figure hypercar around in a seven-figure motorhome if it isn't actually spacious, comfortable and luxurious.

Volkner's blindingly glossy "BrilliantDark" interior finish isn't our favorite, but the dark, multi-tone look of the hand-laid Macassar wood veneers blends quite nicely with the cream-colored paint and upholstery. It also makes a natural wood casing for the massive speakers of the premium audio system Volkner and Burmester optimized for the Performance S cabin. Volkner pins the cost of that sound system alone at €300,000 (approx. $354,000), adding to the display model's pricy, over-the-top intrigue.

The Volkner Performance S comes in multiple floor plans; the show model has a front lounge/rear bedroom layout with driver-side expansion wall slide
Volkner

And here we foolishly thought the new Dembell motorhome might be the most expensive on show. With the Chiron, Burmester audio and host of other upgrades, the Performance S attracting eyeballs and feet to Volkner's 2021 booth leaps from a cool €2,035,000 ($2.4 million) to a package total of €6.5-million ($7.7 million) euros. That makes it a shoe-in for the show's most expensive motorhome title, as identified by the Caravan Salon media team.

Actually, the tastemakers at Volkner probably laughed themselves silly when newcomer Dembell advertised a Ferrari California as a vehicle compatible with the largest garage on its ultra-premium triple-axle Class A. The entry-level California isn't even in production anymore, and when it was, it sold for a fraction of the Chiron ... and less than the cost of Volkner's Burmester audio system alone.

Overall, we still prefer the heavily yacht-influenced look of Dembell's interior, but Volkner adds some similar touches in the Performance S' glass doors, vessel sinks and ambient wall sconces. The floor plan includes an L-shaped kitchen behind the front dining lounge, a full-width dry bathroom and a rear bedroom with raised island bed. The slide-out on the driver side adds plenty of space to walk and move around throughout.

Volkner wows the Caravan Salon with serious hardware
Photo: Messe Düsseldorf, Constanze Tillman

The Performance S show model brings plenty of onboard power thanks to a lithium battery bank, 2,000-W rooftop solar array and 8-kW generator. Additional standard and available Performance S amenities include a full kitchen with induction cooktop, oven, microwave and espresso machine, a wine cabinet, a computer workstation, and a multi-zone heating system with four individual heaters.

Volkner has raised the supercar-carrying motorhome game to new heights this year, but it's not the only marque showing how perfect a match modern supercars and massive ultra-luxury motorhomes are. Below, Morelo shows its wares alongside the new Maserati MC20.

Morelo takes a page out of Volkner's playbook, dressing its booth up with a Maserati MC20
Messe Düsseldorf, Constanze Tillman

The Düsseldorf Caravan Salon opened on Friday and runs through September 5. We'll continue looking at show highlights in the days ahead.

Source: Volkner and Caravan Salon

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12 comments
Daishi
The insult to injury here is that the people who buy these probably pay less in income taxes than most the rest of us. I'm sure this will get written down as a "reasonable business expense" with the owners yacht and corporate jet.
Spud Murphy
Another ridiculous waste of money and resources for the ultra-rich, how obscene can it get before the human race decides enough is enough?
sonic
Looks like a UPS truck.
WB
Fugly..; looks like a ups truck.. also the photos just show the dude and the girl.. not even a pic of the bedroom - this thing must be a joke or PR move.
MontanaTrace
As a commoner, things like this make for a moment of entertainment. I don't care if it is a business expense. Yes, kinda UPS colours. Might change that to USPS red, white and blue. If I hit one of those $100M+ lotteries, I will have already had some comps study. A little daydreaming is fun. Too big to want to drive. Plus, too much housekeeping. See.... a little entertainment. I might prefer Glamping.
Karmudjun
Yes, I expect Germans pay so little in income taxes that any Germans who purchase this - and I know a few who could if they somehow lost their minds and had a third or fourth midlife crisis - will laugh all the way to the bank the next time they pay their complete taxes. Good comment!
Bob Flint
As if a multimillionaire would actually roam around in this, maybe just to have it in case to bug out in a hurry. Get a pilot and jet-copter, avoid the road rage when this gets vandalized, and burned to the ground.
Chris Vallin
Well that looks to be the newest and most expensive UPS van ever created. Also seems to be the new fully integrated fleet with it's last mile delivery vehicle, which similar to there current last mile fleet has to get to it's destination as fast as possible. I could so picture the UPS logo on the sides. Maybe UPS will dish out the money and get this set up for the executive staff members or go even further and loan it out to the top notch drivers they employ
Wile E. Coyote
LOL, the comments are rather unanimous regarding the appearance and opulence of the RV. Evidently they're only aiming this for right hand steering vehicles because American cars couldn't get out unless they drove the car with the front end pointed at the back end of the RV. This does explain why America beat Germany twice last century though! Give me the EM-50 any day of the week! If you haven't seen "Stripes" you won't get that.
Paul King
I always see these comments complaining about the rich wasting money on these excesses, but I look at it as jobs for the average man to make these things a lot of us little people make a decent wage making all the components and assembling it all together. I want the rich to spend all of their money on whatever it is they want so that more of us can have jobs and the money is back in circulation instead of them sitting on billions that do nothing and provide no jobs.