When someone stole Mate Rimac’s Bugatti Chiron from his company’s headquarters in Croatia, the 38-year-old CEO did what you might expect from the man behind two of the world’s most extra car brands: he jumped into a Porsche 911 and gave chase.
The unusual pursuit began Oct. 28 at the Rimac production and technology campus near Zagreb, where a man allegedly walked onto the property, spotted the Chiron with its keys inside and took off with it.
Rimac shared the story on Instagram, walking viewers through the theft and chase with a good sense of humour. The video also includes security footage of the Chiron being driven off the property.
The Bugatti Rimac boss, who also heads his namesake electric hypercar company, said he often leaves the keys inside his cars, including the Chiron and Rimac Nevera. His reasoning? He feels safe in Croatia and it allows his employees to move the cars around without having to track down the boss.
“I do that for years, and nothing ever happened, of course, until something did happen now,” Rimac says in the video.
The theft wasn’t immediately noticed either. Employees and friends regularly borrow the Chiron, and Rimac said he often doesn’t know exactly where it is. It was when someone reported seeing an unfamiliar driver leaving the property that staff began asking around.
Once they realized the car was missing, Rimac contacted police and used its onboard telemetry to track its movements. The Chiron was already heading towards Slovenia, with the thief apparently intent on reaching Germany.
Rimac set off in his Porsche 911, hoping the driver would be stopped before crossing another border. But the Chiron continued into Austria, where officers were receiving live location updates through a group chat with Rimac’s team.
Austrian police eventually intercepted the car near Graz, Austria, and arrested the driver, a Croatian man in his 30s.
The story took another unusual turn when Rimac met the suspect at an Austrian police station. According to Rimac, the man explained that he had originally visited the campus looking for a job, only to find a chance at a road trip too luxurious for him to pass up.
Despite the ordeal, Rimac expressed sympathy for the man, saying he had no intention of personally pursuing charges. He even offered to drive him home to his family, an offer police reportedly declined. Regardless, authorities are pursuing the matter.
The Chiron, which carried a starting price of approximately €2.4 million when new, escaped with relatively minor damage that Rimac says will be repaired.
More importantly, nobody was hurt, and Rimac was quick to praise the Austrian police for their work.
As for the lesson learned, the Bugatti boss says his days of leaving the keys inside his cars are over.
“Don’t try your luck. It will not happen again.”