Sun says Ferrari ‘turned into fireball’ by Saudi prince
By LJ Hutchins
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
For those that want to end the year by shivering as they look at pictures of formerly immaculate supercars reduced to charred wrecks, read on.
The latest victim to come to the attention of the popular prints is the ravaged shell of no less a vehicle than the Ferrari 360 Modena – the forerunner of the 430 and as nice a motor as you could want to see parked on your drive.
Financial adviser Andrew Hobb was using a luxury car agency to hire his out – but, to his discomfort, he didn’t get it back again.
Instead, according to The Sun, it was recovered by police after being crashed violently into a lamp-post in Knightsbridge, London, at 5am. We say violently because the impact was reportedly bad enough to rupture the fuel lines and turn it into a fireball.
(Those of a sensitive disposition should screw their eyes up before clicking on that link and viewing the before and after pictures.)
Plus, the driver and passenger didn’t hang around for long enough to report their accident, according to the newspaper.
And that’s where the story gets really surreal, as the culprit is reportedly a Saudi prince who also stands accused of reducing a set of nearly-new tyres to bald shadows of their former selves through injudicious use of the clutch pedal.
That’s without reducing the rest of the car to a blackened shell.
Mr Hobb is now in dispute with the rental agency over remuneration – allegations that we won’t go into here, but that you’ll be able to read about in the original story.
We’re just shaking our heads sadly over the wreckage. And contemplating the unfortunate truth that a supercar’s only really satisfying to drive if you have the experience to handle it properly – otherwise, whether you’re a Saudi prince or a more common-or-garden class of petrolhead, you’d honestly be better off in a go-kart or a souped-up supermini at a track day…
Related posts:
- Anthony Hamilton crashes Porsche supercar
- Sponsor banned for pit-lane driver assault
- Saudi prince visits Donington Park circuit
- Mercedes Benz announces fossil fuel pull-out
- F1: Virgin to pair with first-timers Manor?
Read more about Ferrari marques, supercar crashes.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 9:49 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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Author: LJ Hutchins. Supports McLaren, kind of. Thinks James May gets a rough deal off the other two. Drives a Subaru Impreza but regrets its lack of bright blue paint and gold wheels. Is very nearly old enough to know better but probably never will. Is a supporter member of the BWRDC. LJ has written 1119 articles for us.
