A Big-Time Auto Exec Allegedly Totaled a Rimac Nevera. So Who Was It?

Mate Rimac isn’t saying.

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A Big-Time Auto Exec Allegedly Totaled a Rimac Nevera. So Who Was It? © A Big-Time Auto Exec Allegedly Totaled a Rimac Nevera. So Who Was It?

Former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg just took delivery of his 1,914-horsepower Rimac Nevera. In the driver-turned-influencer's YouTube video showcasing the shiny new engineering marvel, he cruised around with Mate Rimac, the man whose name is on the badge. During the drive, the hypercar mastermind let slip a juicy piece of gossip: An executive from "one of the biggest car companies in the world" binned a Nevera on track. So who was it?

Rosberg was toying with Rimac a bit, pretending like he was fully sending the car into a drift while using a highway on-ramp. It must have worked as an unintentional interrogation tactic because once Rimac realized it was a joke and calmed down, he gave his recollection of the crash.

According to him, "A CTO of one big, big car company—one of the biggest car companies in the world" wanted to drift the Nevera through the first corner of their first track drive. Rimac and his team tried to warn them that they might want to ease into the car's power before testing its drift mode but they apparently weren't having any of that. "He goes into a drift, first corner. He loses the car, goes into poles, and takes three poles out," Rimac said.

Fortunately for the unnamed CTO, they were uninjured. Unfortunately for them, the battery was punctured by the third pole. It amazingly didn't start a fire, but the Nevera was totaled.

Rosberg joked afterward that the crash was probably a good thing, as it would have made the CTO more inclined to give Rimac money for whatever project they were discussing. However, Rimac—through a bitter smile—said, "No, these guys don't feel sorry."

The Drive reached out to Rimac about the incident but the company declined to comment.

The knee-jerk reaction is to assume it was a Volkswagen Group executive, as Rimac is now a joint company with Bugatti. It's also partnered with Porsche under the VW umbrella. However, judging by Rimac's comment about executives not feeling sorry, I'm inclined to think whatever deal he was trying to make fell through after the crash.

It would take some digging to find out whose confidence overwhelmed their driving skills in the Nevera. Clearly, Rimac isn't about to let it slip and you don't see a well-paid auto executive busting down the door to claim their snafu. Either way, you have to feel for the guy as this means not one but two of Rimac's hypercars have been crashed by someone else.

Got a tip about the Nevera incident? Email me directly: [email protected]

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