Honey, I Wrecked the Porsche

yahoo Finance ^ | 06/15/2007 | by Jennifer Saranow

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

Call it a metaphor for a prosperous, risk-embracing age or just call it bad driving.

Auto makers are turning out a new breed of supremely fast sports cars that sell for upwards of $250,000 and share many characteristics of purebred racecars. But as more of them hit the road, often in the hands of inexperienced drivers, a growing number are ending up wrapped around trees, smashed into guardrails or otherwise totaled in accidents.

In the past 18 months, drivers across the world have cracked up at least six rare $1 million Ferrari Enzos -- only 400 of which were built. In March, a California man rammed his $300,000 Lamborghini Murcielago into five parked cars; while in England, a 39-year-old driver caused an international stir among car enthusiasts by crashing a Bugatti Veyron -- an extremely rare $1.5 million turbocharged missile with a top speed of 253 miles per hour.

It's not just drunken celebrities doing the damage. On the way to an M.B.A. class near San Diego one recent morning, Nasar Aboubakare, a 40-year-old private-equity firm president, lost control of his new 550-horsepower Ford GT and wrenched it over a lane divider. "The car is like a wild animal," he says.

...snip

[BritExPatInFla]

Thant, and drivers over there don’t eat, drink or text message while on the road. That’s why Americans are looked at as some of the worst drivers in the world. US car buyers bitch about a lack of cupholders in European cars, Wuropeans wonder why there should be any.

[HamiltonJay]

Of course they are blaming the cars, they can’t blame it on their inadequacy in another area that drove them to buy the thing to try to compensate for it in the first place now can they?

[Yo-Yo]

Griffin wrecks Ferrari Enzo practicing for race

IRWINDALE, Calif. -- Eddie Griffin crashed a rare Ferrari Enzo worth $1.5 million into a concrete barrier while practicing at a racetrack Monday, destroying the car but escaping uninjured.

The comedian was practicing for a charity race to promote his upcoming film, "Redline," when he drove too fast around a curve at the Irwindale Speedway. Video footage showed the red sports car screeching before it ricocheted off the barrier with heavy damage to its front.

"Undercover Brother's good at karate and all the rest of that, but the brother can't drive."
-- Eddie Griffin

[AFreeBird]

Yep, they covered that in the show too. At 200MPH you can’t afford to take your hands, or eyes, off the road.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

Still don’t like the looks. The Lambo doors are great, ON A LAMBO! MBZ is just too much of a sissy to do the gullwings. They’re afraid to stain the image of it. Sheesh.

[AFreeBird]

Man, whoever came up with the the idea of a front bumper license plate, ought to be shot!

[Clam Digger]

For the cost of these cars, they could filed a racing team for an entire season in some pretty damn cool cars.

Most of these dopes hardly knw how to properly shift the cars, let alone drive them. Andy jackass can hit 150 on a highway in a realtively nie car, but to race is a whole other ball game. That requires REAL skill. I tried, and I don’t have it, despite trying for many many years. The good ones are few and far between, and it’s not likely these rich dinks have it.

[Yo-Yo]

Here's your gull wing doors.

The problem with true gull wing doors is that it requires three parking spots get out of the car.

[RedStateRocker]

Darwin missed.

No sympathy for anyone who ‘needs’ to drive faster than is safe under any ‘worst case’ scenario. No more sympathy for people who ‘need’ or ‘like’ to drive fast than people who need or want to do drugs. (at least drug users *might* indulge only in their house without endangering others).

ONE at fault wreck and it should be never behind the wheel again. Ever.

George Carlin:”ever notice how anybody driving slower than you is an inconsiderate JERK- and anyone driving faster than you is a F$%#$%# MANIAC ? “

[-YYZ-]

Oh, that’ll buff right out :)

Actually, it probably is repairable, given enough parts and money. Since he wrecked it on a racetrack it’s probably not covered by insurance.

[HEY4QDEMS]

Enzo

[fightinbluhen51]

You missed the point (or my post laacked proper sarcasm) in that if cars that travel “too fast” are dangerous and “unnessecary” then why do we need them.

Sorry round about firearms argument.

[ozzymandus]

As long as they don’t hurt anybody else, I love to see rich idiots wreck overpriced cars.

[absolootezer0]

sorry, sarcasm is sometimes hard to detect without a cute little /sarc at the end :)

[ken5050]

A quick test to determine if it's indeed "too much car.."

If it's capable of getting a speeding ticket in FIRST gear..

[ozzymandus]

The last speeding ticket I got cost me $113 dollars the week before Christmas. And the teenage highway patrolman who gave it to me had NO sense of humor.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

If they can pit a man on the moon, they can solve the problem of a gullwing that opens in its own footprint.

[Lx]

That’s what they get for shutting of traction control. When I do it, the car gets sideways and is not really correctable by counter steer since it’s so heavy. Even going straight floored the car’s back end swivels in the back until it gets traction.

It drives my wife crazy when I get sideways except with this car it’s not to easy to recover if you go to far. Hell, in my RX-7 I could steer with the accelerator pedal and counter steer out of almost anything. That’s what happens when a car has about 50 50 weight distribution and no traction control or ABS.

The guy said he was taught to stomp on the breaks and the clutch, I believe you’re also supposed to drive your way out of it since he had ABS; not just sit there and expect the best.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

I assume you bookmarked the link at the bottom. Grab the popcorn. ;o)

[Lx]

Now they’re finally coming out with a convertible like any SL should be stock.