Bugatti CEO Mate Rimac lets a lucky car spotter jump into the driver seat to rev the $4M Tourbillon

Most car spotters would be thrilled just to see a Bugatti Tourbillon driving past them, let alone get close enough to rev its V16, but thanks to Bugatti CEO Mate Rimac, one man got the joy of doing so.

One very lucky enthusiast got an experience that most of the hypercar’s future owners will probably never forget.

Rimac apparently let the car spotter jump into the driver’s seat of the $4 million Tourbillon and give its enormous engine a few revs.

And naturally, there were plenty of people standing around with their phones ready to capture the moment.

The Tourbillon sounds absolutely wild

The moment was captured by London-based automotive influencer Freddie Atkins, better known as TFJJ, who is famous for hunting down some of the world’s rarest and most expensive cars.

The video opens from inside the Tourbillon as its enormous engine is revved, giving everyone watching a pretty spectacular introduction to Bugatti’s latest hypercar.

And this isn’t just any engine.

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The Tourbillon ditched the Chiron’s quad-turbocharged W16 in favor of a naturally aspirated 8.3-liter V16 developed with British engineering company Cosworth.

It produces 986 horsepower on its own and can rev all the way to 9,000 rpm, and add three electric motors into the mix and the hybrid powertrain produces around 1,800 horsepower in total.

That means this isn’t exactly the sort of car you’d expect someone to casually hand over to a car spotter.

Mate Rimac clearly isn’t precious about the Tourbillon

Rimac himself can be seen with the Tourbillon in the footage, and the Bugatti boss has already shown that he’s happy to use development cars in the real world rather than keeping them locked away in a garage.

He’s even previously taken his nephews for a ride in a Tourbillon prototype, despite the fact that customer cars haven’t started reaching their owners yet.

That makes this latest moment feel very on-brand for Rimac.

While most people would probably be terrified of letting anyone else anywhere near a $4 million hypercar, Rimac appears more interested in letting enthusiasts experience what Bugatti has created.

And judging by the crowd gathered around the Tourbillon, there was no shortage of people eager to hear it.

This is what $4 million sounds like

The Tourbillon’s cabin is almost as dramatic as its engine, with a steering wheel surrounded by an intricate mechanical instrument cluster inspired by luxury watches.

But once that V16 starts revving, it’s pretty difficult to focus on anything else.

Bugatti has previously explained that it spent years developing the Tourbillon’s acoustics, with the goal of giving the naturally aspirated engine a raw, mechanical character rather than relying on artificial sound through the speakers.

The result is a very different soundtrack from the smoother, deeper noise associated with the old W16-powered Bugattis.

And for a car spotter who normally has to stand on the other side of the barrier and hope a hypercar owner gives it some throttle, getting to sit behind the wheel and make one of the world’s most exclusive V16s roar is about as good as it gets.

Especially when the car in question costs around $4 million and looks like that.