Paul sent me a link today to the video below about The Belgrade Phantom. I had never heard the story before, but it turns out there are a fair number of videos and information about him online.
The Beogradski Fantom, which is Serbian for Belgrade Phantom, became famous for his high speed driving night after night through the streets of Belgrade. He regularly eluded police and other chasers with his skilled and daring driving.
Belgrade at that time, was relatively boring (or so I read) and people would gather every night around Slavija square waiting for him to show. It was a thrill people didn’t normally have to see his driving stunts and eventual escape from the police. It was even said that he stopped every night to pick a rose from the square for a lady he was trying to impress.
Here’s a short little film about The Belgrade Phantom.
It turns out The Belgrade Phantom was actually Vlada Vasiljevic. He was a small time crook in Belgrade who developed an uncanny ability to steal cars. He was particularly drawn to fancy and expensive sports cars such as Porsche. Thus the reason the white Porsche 911 was his ride of choice.
As it turns out, there is a documentary that was made about him and his stunts that was released earlier this year (overseas only I believe). A number of people have speculated about the meaning of his antics, so it’s hard to decipher what’s truth and what’s made up. It’s also unclear what model of Porsche he drove on those 10 nights when he made circles around Slavija square.
It does sound like Vasiljevic finally was caught and went to prison. He evidently died a few years after getting out of prison while driving an old Russian Lada…also stolen.
Recent Comments