Ferrari F40 Wrecked in Houston, the real story

Drama because Jalopnic (putatively) hates all things Ferrari. I don't see it, but there's a lot that gets by me.....

 

I noticed that part, too.....I'll bet ******* can fix it...

Now that I have a better idea of the site I can walk the skid marks to confirm....

 

I'm here and am not going to say much of anything about the actual facts. I only want to make a few comments. FIRST: The age and condition of the tires played a major part in this wreck. SECONDLY: The comment, "hear the turbo's spooling", is complete nonsense. Whoever said that has zero idea what they are talking about. THIRD: I find the term "Joy riding" completely FALSE with respect to this accident. The Reality is: The story is out and the car is wrecked. The relevant details are only being speculated.

 

car can be repaired. Not a total loss.

 

Exactly.

Also an F40 does not have a tub, it's a space frame like a 308. Jalopnik need to get their facts right.
Pete

 

Facts on Jalopnik?

Where...?

>8^)
ER

 

the garage employing the mechanic better have some serious insurance for this type of thing since my bet is the owner is going to ask for a lot.

 

It's surprising how many people just don't think about tyres.

Everyone in my family thinks about them constantly, but that's only because we were hit by personal tragedies arising from inadequate tyres.

They're your car's/bike's only connection to the road. If they fail you, particularly at speed, then there's nothing even the best engineered machine can do to save you. It needs to work through the tyres.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

It's absolutely horrible what happened. Although the original tires for the car are neat to have- they are not practical. Most people don't recognize the fact that there are just 4 little rubber patches that keep the car on the ground. Tires and brakes are the most important part of driving.

 

ok, so you guys are telling me that its this guy's fault that his f40 got smashed while being taken on a joy ride by a mechanic, because he had old tires on it?? only in america could the victim once again be the loser in the eyes of the law.
tires are important no doubt, and if the owner himself had run the car off the road, we would be having a thread about how important tires are.
but this mechanic took a car out that he was temporarily responsible for, and exceeded the speed limits, rules of the road, and the past due tires (which by the way if he was a good mechanic he would know anyway), and he is at fault. lets not forget the spirit of the law - it is meant to make sense.

 

No, of course not.

If the tyres were old, it was the mechanic's job to highlight them to the owner - he obviously wasn't thinking about tyres either. Also, he shouldn't have been pressing on in a car that wasn't his. When the car is in the care of the garage, they are 100% responsible for returning it in the same condition as it was received to the owner. Totally the garage's fault it was wrecked.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Well, at least they covered the seat in plastic....

"The owner, who purchased the car new and has been driving it ever since, was shocked when he heard about the vehicle."

From new makes it more server, probably never intended on every selling it.

"Because the F40s frame is damaged the car is being treated as a total loss."

If the Lindler car could be saved, so can this one. Speaking of that I wonder just how many F40s have been crashed/repaired and how many are gone for good. Surly someone must have a record of that.

 

I keep hearing everyone mention age of the tires. They (at least the front drivers side) is a p-zero. I may be mistaken, but those tires weren't around back then are they?

 

Yes, they were around. Developed for the F40s & Diablos at the time.

 

I was mistaken then. Thanks.

 

ROFLCOPTERS

 

Hey guys, the F40 accident was just an accident. Not a tyre issue or a failure. The mechanic is one of the best in the country and was on a test drive after fixing a long time fault, not joy riding as said previously. I have read enough and have to write the facts. The mechanic has forgotten more than most of us will ever know about Ferrari's and i would trust him with any car out there, him and his work colleges. Has any one thought how he is?
I don't mean to go on but accidents happen and this was one not a joy ride or speeding through the neighborhood and spooling up the turbos.

 

Just an accident....lol..I am sorry....but when you are entrusted with a half a million dollar car, you better be real careful. Multiple witnesses said he was speeding. An accident is sitting at a stop sign or red light and getting rear ended...or T boned in an intersection when you have the right of way. Jumping curbs and slamming into walls/fences while exceeding the speed limit is no ones fault but his own. I would never trust that shop or especially this guy with anything of value. JMHO

 

I wonder how you would feel if this was your car? To say it "was just an accident" is dismissive of the incident and suggests that it was not the driver's fault.

Since you have ruled out a tire issue or a mechanical failure, it seems to me that the man behind the wheel in a single-car accident is fully responsible, is he not?

 

Well, that shop has one of MY Ferraris..........

I do hope the driver is okay, he is indeed a very knowledgable and nice fellow.

The owner of the F40, and the shop, I have never met personally.
His insurance will buy him another one.

 

Marksphere has my OTHER Ferrari, and Moorespeed has my OTHER Ferrari..

All of them HAVE to drive them, to work on them.

JRV used to offer some hair raising rides in Big George's car, he'd go past the Horse Patrol of HPD about 110MPH on the feeder, teasing them. They cornered me in my Ferrari years later, on horse back in Hermann Park and wrote me all those tickets they had wanted to cite him.

I did get to pet the horse.

 

He recently suffered a massive stroke........unless it was a Shop Boy.
I'm speaking of the principal Tech.

 

It was noted he purchased it new, so NOT $500K and he stands to make a killing off of the settlement.

If stated value coverage, IF recently apprasied, and IF... IF... IF......

*shrugs shoulders*

I need to go get my car, they leave it out in the rain, to mildew.

I guess they have an empty spot inside now.

 

You crack me up Tex....love your posts.