Last week's crash of a half-million-dollar Ferrari F40 in Houston was more than just an unfortunate accident, it was the result of a mechanic's test drive gone horribly wrong.
The photo shows the aftermath: a rare and expensive Ferrari F40 worth at least $500,000 crushed by a fence. The wheels bent, the front-end destroyed, and a man in the background being treated by EMTs. What the photo doesn't show is how the car wound up in its condition.
Eyewitnesses report the car was traveling down Hempstead Road and turned onto 34th Street in Northwest Houston traveling at a speed above 60 MPH, despite a posted speed of 35 MPH along the busy thoroughfare. Some say he was going between 70-to-90 MPH.
"I don't know how fast he was going, but he had to be going 60+ because I could hear the turbos spooling on the car," said Travis Brown, an employee at a nearby store who witnessed the crash. "Next I know I heard tire squealing, then he jumped the curb and hit the fence."
Whether the crash occurred because of a driver error or a mechanical failure is unclear, but the distance of the crash from where the F40's driver lost control shows he was definitely traveling at a great deal of speed.
"He had to go airborne," said Brown.
Though slightly injured, the driver was alert and standing when EMTs arrived to treat him.
The owner, who purchased the car new and has been driving it ever since, was shocked when he heard about the vehicle. Because the F40s frame is damaged the car is being treated as a total loss.
