Ferrari F40 Wrecked in Houston, the real story

Someone want to give me all the right data my email's [email protected], happy to hear from you.

 

Everything to which the public can be privy is right here in this thread. Combing threads for article information doesn't seem like a new concept for TheFlopNik.

 

So far there's more idle speculation. All we reported was there was a crash and, according to our tipster, it happened in Houston and the car crashed into a building. We also reported there are multiple F40s in Houston. So far, no one here has provided any better information than that.

 

Really? What exactly are you looking for that hasn't been posted and that might actually be posted? We already know that we won't get the owner's name, the serial number, or a first-hand description of the accident. But there is some information for an update to your article, if you look really carefully:

UPDATE: Since our article went live, there has been lots of buzz about this accident - namely in the online Ferrari community FerrariChat.com. Since they got wind of this story, we've been able to glean some additional details about this unfortunate incident.

While the owner won't personally comment about the occurrence, we're happy to say that he was able to walk away from the aftermath unscathed save for his ego. Grady, a fellow F40 owner in Houston, and a friend of the owner of this car, said the circumstances surrounding the incident involve old tires on the bumpy, dusty pavement of a curved road.

Some speculators estimate that this accident may result in as much as $200,000 in repairs. But parts shouldn't be a problem. Of the roughly 1,400 F40s made [here's where you do five minutes of research to fill out your update], more than 200 came to the United States, and so myriad parts are readily available on sites like eBay.

Texas claims a high percentage of F40 owners. With as many as 10 or more F40s currently located there, some notable owners include boxer-turned-grill-magnate-turned-minister George Foreman, Dahr Jamail, and Jim 'Mattress Mack' McIngvale - and that's just in Houston!

Grady noted this about the F40:
"It is like driving a big go kart. It is extremely tact-able and since there are no traction control, ABS or any sort of driver aid, you dive with three things: Your hands, feet and your ASS. It is a very demanding and very rewarding experience driving one of the cars. YOU HAVE TO RESPECT THIS CAR."



But don't let me do all of your work for you; I have my own newsletter to write.

 

Thanks. I'll be sure to mention that in a future post, but for now the amount of hard information is just too limited and still too lacking in real facts to make it worthwhile.

 

LOL, since when has TheFlopNik been interested in real facts? You're just prodding people for information you can use to further your defamatory, anti-Ferrari agenda.

 

I love Ferraris. We love Ferraris. For every Chris Harris post (which I think is true) or Ferrari 458 Italia fire post (which, also, turned out to be true) there are ten stories about Ferrari that are positive.

http://jalopnik.com/5824366/inside-ferraris-private-stable-for-the-super-wealthy?tag=ferrari

 

People also like to read stories about cool cars, cool events, etc. TheFlopNik is a car site, pandering to automotive enthusiasts specifically seeking news about exotics and such - not everyday people stuff like Kia gas mileage and Firestone recalls. This "make fun of the rich" sensationalism is the kind of thing you read in the everyman's newspaper, riding on a crowded subway car on your way to work for the man. I've never seen them post an upbeat Ferrari article. And Matt's New York Post-style journalism tactics reflect poorly on the site - but reflect accurately on how most of their articles come across.

I don't think Matt posts lies either; but I don't see him shining light on all of the facts either.

 

Positive posts, all from the last four weeks:

http://jalopnik.com/5829605/the-ferrari-p45-competizione-does-the-nurburgring?tag=ferrari
http://jalopnik.com/5828484/1955-ferrari-750-monza-spyder-to-be-auctioned?tag=ferrarihttp://jalopnik.com/5826324/check-out-the-sights-and-sounds-of-the-2011-ferrari-day-at-lime-rock-park?tag=ferrari
http://jalopnik.com/5825189/trio-of-rare-italian-exotics-found-in-dusty-texas-barn/gallery/?tag=ferrari
http://jalopnik.com/5824366/inside-ferraris-private-stable-for-the-super-wealthy?tag=ferrari

 

Well, I stand corrected; but honestly, that's the first Flop piece I've seen that wasn't insulting or defamatory in some way.

 

I think you touched on it earlier. The more interesting stories, even to a Ferrari faithful like you, are the ones like the Harris piece. Same goes for crashes and fires and controversy. So much so that no one bothered to share a link with you regarding the F1 garage tour, which was like pure Ferrari porn (at least to me).

Jalopnik goes after the more interesting stories. It's a professional hazard. I've seen the site accused of being pro-Lamborghini, anti-Lamborhgini, completely socialist, completely right-wing conservative, and too moderate. All in the same day.

 

Subscribed. Looks like we're settling in for a good one. I long for a popcorn emoticon.

I should say in advance, I'm a Ferrari owner, and I also like to check in on Jalopnik from time to time. Not sure which side that should piss off.

Edit: Oh, did someone mention something about a bent car? What's the deal with that? Part out, gonna fix, stow in a garage in Bellaire for 20 years?

 

Which I think is very unfortunate. I wont go into it, but so far, Jalop hasn't bitten on anything yet. I may be wrong, but I think the anti-establishment mentality is the main culprit. I'm going to attempt to meet up with Ray later this evening; and see if in person there is anything that Jalop actually is interested in.

 

There's tons we're interested in. I think anti-establishment isn't maybe the best way to put it. But we're not going to bow to an automaker, or anyone, because they may cut us off from press cars. Our biggest concern is the truth.

We're interested in tons. Here are some recent features about stuff we find fascinating:

http://jalopnik.com/5828821/manhattans-mysterious-book+filled-car?tag=feature
http://jalopnik.com/5830352/this-is-the-first-bottle-of-champagne-sprayed-after-winning-a-race?tag=feature
http://jalopnik.com/5829911/the-mystery-of-a-ghost-bmw-dealership?tag=feature
http://jalopnik.com/5825586/budapests-secret-grand-prix-street-circuit?tag=feature

 

You guys are also interested in reposting gossip about the personal lives of political candidates. Not really sure what that has to do with the cult of cars.

 

Bowing down isn't what I'm talking about. In any case, I really won't get into it as I'm not looking to stir trouble in any shape or form. I'd love to see jalopnik out at here.

Anything is a relative term; but I suppose I'm speaking of something specific LOL. I don't have a problem with you, and checking jalopnik and autoblog 3-4 times daily is good fun. 90% of the articles I read, I love the stories. I think one of my favorites was the airplane graveyard east of Cleveland.

 

If you're out at Woodward def stop by and see Ray. He's got a great car for it and loves talking about Jalopnik and what we do love. We'll also have a lot of love coming from Pebble this weekend.

 

Four articles in four weeks! One nice Ferrari article each week.

But there's no shortage of the contrary...

This is why people think Ferrari drivers are asshats - it's not even an article, it's just a picture. You don't even know the circumstances surrounding when, where or why the cars are there. Shows that take place in public, using business parking lots before or after business hours, often park in handicapped spaces.

Who wraps a Ferrari F40 in vinyl - another picture-sans-article with a paragraph-long caption full of assumptions.

The ugliest Ferrari ever - "It was so ugly it never raced." Really? Is that the reason it never raced?

Drag Queen-loving Fiat heir get a denim Ferrari - this could've been a great article about the personalization program - but it's so much easier to make it trashy.

 

Does anybody want a copy of the Police Report?????

 

Just kidding........

 

Did you actually look at the "personalized" car?

There was no way to make a "great" article out of that laughable "effort".

with no pulitzer's in the offing they cover the spectrum as mass appeal get's hits, read it for what it is, bubble gum.

 

Once per week is a lot more than "never," which is what you implied.

Story #1: The asshats thing is something we do with every car. It's a meme.

http://jalopnik.com/asshats

Story #2: Was a parody of this website (http://****yeahmenswear.tumblr.com/post/1398751650/i-was-at-pitti-obviously-chopping-it-up-with) and just generic car porn in general. Not sure what more it needed. Also, that story is from 2010.

Story #3: If you click through the photos you'll see there's a lot more text in the story that breaks down the history. Peter's our European F1 guy and he's sharing a bit of Ferrari history that I find fascinating. I wouldn't say that's a negative piece at all. I think it's just cool Ferrari history.

Story #4: We've done a ton of stories on custom/personalized Ferraris. But Lapo Elkann is also a Jalopnik meme due to his uber-playboy status. Also, is it wrong not to like a denim Ferrari? Is it wrong to have an opinion?

 

Available 5 to 8 days after the incident, and costs $7.50 according to HPD's website

I doubt the 'journalists' over at jalopnik would bother doing their own research