Not All Hypercars Live Under Covers
For years, enthusiasts have criticized exotic car collectors who treat their vehicles as “garage queens” – a term used for cars that are rarely driven and spend most of their lives in storage. To be fair, keeping them tucked away can help preserve their value, especially in the case of icons like the Ferrari 250 GTO, which can command eight-figure prices at auction.
At Bugatti Rimac, however, CEO Mate Rimac takes a different approach. In a recent Instagram post, he highlighted his two hypercars – a Bugatti Chiron and a Rimac Nevera – both showing substantial mileage. The Chiron has covered around 176,000 kilometers (109,361 miles), while the Nevera has logged roughly 41,000 kilometers (25,476 miles). We’ve seen the Bugatti before, a development unit, so the surprise here was the Nevera – an all-electric hypercar.
Living With a Hypercar
Given the mileage, these hypercars are unlikely to command resale values comparable to lower-mileage examples. There’s also the maintenance factor to consider – the more miles they accumulate, the shorter the service intervals can become, which may inflate long-term ownership costs.
But for Mate Rimac, that clearly isn’t the point. He seems intent on using his cars as intended – driving them extensively to better understand their strengths and shortcomings, especially as development progresses on the Bugatti Tourbillon, the successor to the Chiron.
The Bugatti Tourbillon features a naturally aspirated V16 paired with three electric motors, delivering a combined output of 1,800 horsepower. Mate Rimac is expected to add one to his own collection – and, if his track record is any indication, he won’t be treating it as a garage queen. As he put it in the social media post: “Yup, we want our hypercars to be used.”
A Garage With Personality
Aside from the Bugatti Chiron and Rimac Nevera, the CEO’s garage includes a wide range of machines from different marques, such as the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren and the Porsche Carrera GT – the German automaker’s iconic V10 halo car. However, his tastes aren’t limited to exotics. In fact, his favorite car is the BMW 5 Series (E39), which he uses as a daily alongside his Bugatti and Rimac hypercars.
Interestingly, though, Mate Rimac isn’t particularly fond of the driving dynamics of the BMW M3 (E30), even as many enthusiasts regard it as one of the greatest M cars ever made.
Whatever Mate Rimac chooses to drive extensively next, it’s refreshing to see top executives like him who are genuine car enthusiasts. Another person who comes to mind is Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation, who helped launch the Gazoo Racing (GR) brand and took a hands-on role in developing its performance cars.
