Posted on 11/12/2009 11:15:04 AM PST by Elderberry
LA MARQUE The owner of one of the worlds fastest production automobiles accidentally drove his fine-tuned, French-built car into a saltwater lagoon Wednesday.
The man, who police said was from Lufkin, was uninjured after escaping the partially submerged Bugatti Veyron as it came to rest in about 2 feet of saltwater.
The two-seater, with 16 cylinders and four turbo chargers, can reach speeds of more than 250 mph. New models sell for about $2 million.
The man, who refused to give his name, was looking at real estate in Galveston.
About 3 p.m. a low-flying pelican distracted him as he traveled north on Interstate 45 just south of the hurricane levee near Omega Bay.
The man jerked the wheel, dropped his cell phone, and the cars front tire left the frontage road and entered a muddy patch, which foiled his attempt to maneuver away from the lagoon.
The Veyrons powerful engine gurgled like an outboard motor for about 15 minutes before it died.
Police and firefighters blocked the frontage road until MCH Towing employee Gilbert Harrison carefully wenched the car away from riprap and onto the soft, muddy bank.
Its the rarest car in the world, not something you can just replace, the man said.
An Associated Press story in October mentioned a 2006 model Veyron for sale in Jonesboro, Ark., with an asking price of $1.25 million.
One of the prospective buyers was from Texas.
That Bugatti Veyron was one of only 200 made and one of only about 15 in the United States, the AP reported.
“dropped his cell phone”
The idiot wants to blame a bird?
Car Pron.
Moron. Idiot. Fool.
Oh, man. What a waste of a perfectly good mechanical marvel.
Was it Simon Cowell?
There are supposed to be only about ten of these that have sold in the US (Ralph Lauren and Jay Leno each have one), go figure that one would be in Lufkin, Texas of all places.
I’d imagine the water damage alone would buy a fleet of Lexus’
Damn pelicans....thought it was a salmon!
Think his insurance covers that?
Who’s the U-Boat Commander?
(Tom Cruise, Risky Business)
Must be some of that Big Timber money from Temple Inland.
Considering he’ll probably have to ship it back to Bugatti to get it fixed? (I kinda doubt he can just roll down to Autozone or the local salvage yard and get what he needs to shadetree-mechanic it.) Probably not.
The GEICO Gecko is laughing his ass off at that guy right now.
}:-)4
He paid 1-2 million dollars for a CAR. That’s the part of the story that makes him an idiot.
You would think he could have afforded a hands-free phone or a personal assistant with big boobs.
Sorry. Although I think anyone can do whatever they want with their money, I think it’s funny that some idiot that would blow a couple of million bazoozas on some damned French built car ends up in a big mud puddle because he was stupid.
I’d bet the idiot voted for Obama too.
I’m pretty sure Gilligan was involved. Somehow.
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