Friend rolls my Stradale

Thanks guys for the funny comments. But this one really cracked me up, especially knowing the cult CS following on this board! Yes, I have taken three factory-striped cars off the market, and I apologize for that!

There is a little story. My friend came over with his wife and his aunt, uncle and their child visiting from India. Apparently cars like this are extremely rare sites in India, even in the wealthier neighborhoods. Seeing a Ferrari in person is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, especially a rare CS, F40 or Enzo. It was a real thrill for them and for me too. Visits like this always bring back the emotions I felt when I first saw these cars in person as well.

Of course, it's hard to not offer a drive. With the aunt and uncle, I figured my wife and I would take them for a short drive in two cars down the local backcountry road. My wife was busy preparing for a party, so I asked my friend if he didn't mind taking his aunt in the CS and I'll take his uncle for a ride in the CGT. I chose the CS because my friend has driven it a few short times, although not recently.

His uncle couldn't believe the CGT's acceleration. He was scared at 1/4 throttle. Obvious even 1/2 throttle wasn't going to happen today. So it was a very leisurely drive.

I was in the front and the CS behind. I thought I saw a red flash in the rearview mirror and when I looked in the mirror, saw a small dust cloud behind me in the street. I slowed down and my friend did not catch up. Where could he be? He was right behind me. I said "something's not right" and his uncle was noticeably upset.

We turned around and the CS, aunt and friend were gone. That was very scary.

We pulled the CGT over and got out and started walking down the road. After about 30 seconds, we see my friend and aunt walking towards us around the curve, noticeably upset by completely unhurt. I felt so good to see them and asked if they were OK many times!

As CS owners, you know how fast the CS responds to throttle input, especially at higher RPM. The combination of an off-camber turn, cold tires, slightly damp road and super fast throttle response after a downshift caused the car to spin too quickly to correct. It did a 180 to the edge of the road, and then very slowly tipped over onto its roof and slid down the short hill. My friend and aunt felt the car tipping over and instinctively raised their hands to the roof.

A few feet after greeting them, I could see the CS just like you see in the photo above. It's strange to see someone's car like that, and much stranger when it's my car, and a special favorite too!

The car was totaled and the insurance (Liberty Mutual) quickly paid what the car was worth within a few days. They are really a great insurance company. The car will likely appear again with a salvage title and will probably be a good buy because it rolled over only once and very softly on the grass. The engine ran for a few seconds upside down before my friend turned it off.

Now, how could we replace one of our favorite (and first) Ferraris? Very nice CSs are hard to find 7 years later.

Ironically, the person I bought my second CS from just decided to sell his second CS a few days earlier! What's the chance of that? A perfect car, very much like the first one we lost in the wild fires. Less than 3K miles in showroom condition, other than the normal chips on the front bumper. This unbelievable find and Liberty Mutual's prompt and fair response really made this event much less stressful for me and my family and my friend and his family. We are, of course, still friends! It was an accident and luckily no one got hurt. The latter fact is, by far, the most important. Because of this, the memories of this are already fading.

Here's the new car. We just got it yesterday. We had Rosso Corsa in the second car and are very happy to have Rosso Scuderia again. That was the color of our first CS.
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Thanks T!