This is a guest post that I found very interesting and wanted to share it with everyone. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Very expensive lesson to learn here.
The insurance claims of rare cars with reckless owners
By: Colleen A Harding
Have you ever just been driving down the highway in your 2007 Cadillac, when you turn your head and notice that a Porsche 911 is in the lane beside you? I’ve been in this situation only a few times in my life, but with the sweat pouring off of my brow, I always say a silent prayer to myself: “Oh my goodness, keep your hands tightly on the wheel”!
Well, for the majority of the population, if we tilted that wheel ever so slightly, we’d destroy our financial future. Of course a car crash is tragic, no matter who it happens to. You have to deal with insurance claims, repairs, and maybe even personal injury attorneys—which can cost upwards of thousands of dollars. It’s tragic when really expensive, exotic cars are destroyed. Especially when you figure in how much the owner loved that car.
However, the situation is slightly more amusing when it happens to rich people who can afford to drive luxury automobiles like idiots. That’s why we thought we’d share a top 6 rundown of the most expensive car accidents in history. Now these wrecks are in a league of their own because the cars are as rare as the owners are idiotic (in most cases)…
6. Aston Martin Rapide – $207,000
Our first car crash left a tear in my eye, especially, if you can even imagine, trusting your $207,000 Aston Martin Rapide to a valet while you go play a few hands of Black Jack only to lose a few thousand dollars and the car you came with. No the driver didn’t bet it in a hand of poker; the valet smashed it. It’s OK to feel sorry for this poor owner. He lost WAY more than his shirt in that game of lady luck.
5. Bugatti EB110 – $500,000
You know these are expensive crashes when car upwards of $500,000 super-exotic is the second car on a top 6 list. Well this 1992 Bugatti EB110 was being driven by a mechanic as part of an “annual tune up”. However, the steadfast and trustworthy soul hit a slick patch of oil, which caused him to lose control and smash this rare beauty into a telephone pole. The car’s owner is a Tony Robins-like guru named Emile Ratelband, who walks on hot coals and lectures on releasing one’s positive energy. No reports on what the mechanic had to do to make it up with Ratelband, but I bet the soles of his feet are still tender.
4. Mercedes Benz SL 300 – $750,000
With a name like the SL 300 “Gullwing”, this classic Mercedes luxury automobile represents what’s fast, swift and graceful about the world of cars. However, when you figure in a reckless owner who gets his kicks by racing it through the streets of Mexico in the annual La Carrera Panamericana Street Race—disaster is sure to ensue. Bye, bye birdie!
3. Bentley Azure – $370,000, Mercedes S Class – $111,000, Ferrari F 430 – a $200,000, Porsche 911 – $118,000 …oh and don’t forget the Aston Martin Rapide – $207,000 TOTAL:$928,348.02
This one is my personal favorite because it involves not one, but 5 luxury vehicles and an accident to the tune of a £700,000 (that’s 928,348.02 USD). This tragic situation was caused by what the Daily Mail called a “French woman” and a “hapless blonde” when she caused a five-car pile-up when her $370,000 Bentley Azure collided with a $111,000 Mercedes S Class, a $200,000 Ferrari F 430, a $118,000 Porsche 911…oh and don’t forget the $207,000 Aston Martin Rapide. The car crash, which occurred at the Place du Casino roundabout in Monaco, was called “one of the most expensive fender-benders in the history of mankind”, when the female driver of the Bentley Azure scraped the side of the Mercedes and then ran head-on into the Ferrari F430. The Aston Martin and the Porsche 911, trying to avoid the crash, unfortunately got sucked in. However, the real showstopper began as tourists swarmed and gawked at the wreck, snapping pictures. With both doors pinned shut, all the at-fault driver could do was smile for the cameras. While the total of all the cars equaled almost over $1 million the cost of the repairs was only expected to be $60,000. Only $60,000 huh, what kind of pocket change do these folks carry around?
2. Jaguar XJ220 – $1 Million
Here we are at the million dollar threshold of wrecks with the Jaguar XJ220, which at one time boasted the title record for highest top speed (at 217 mph). Along with the need for speed came the owner’s really dumb need to show off in front of his pals at the golf course. Fore! Oh no, the Jag ended up in the rough and he wasn’t able to use his pitching wedge to get it out.
1. Ferrari 250 GT Spyder – $10 Million
With a price tag of 10-million this had better be a worthwhile story. Well don’t despair, this record-priced carnage was purchased at auction for $10,894,900. I guess the new owner couldn’t afford proper, temperate storage for his new 1961 250 GT California Spyder after paying top price, so he stowed it on the beach. Who would have guessed a hurricane was about to hit?
