If you tried to picture the world's most expensive car crash, you'd probably imagine a whole bunch of banged up Ferraris and Lamborghini supercars from the modern era, but in this case it's more about value than quantity.
In fact it was merely a two-car collision in which one of the vehicles was worth around $38.5m.
The car in question is an ultra-rare Ferrari 250 GTO that, according to reports, was crashed in France recently. Owner Christopher Cox, a businessman from the USA, was involved in an accident with another vehicle while en route to Le Mans while partaking in the 250 GTO 50th anniversary tour - an owners' event including Nick Mason, Pink Floyd drummer and avid Ferrari collector.
It's not clear whether the vehicle was actually written off, nor whose fault it was, but given that the man's wife reportedly suffered a broken leg, it must have been quite a shunt. Some reports say the car was hit from behind while making a turn.
Cox's GTO had an estimated value of £20-million (NZ$38.5m). Another GTO, albeit one specifically built for Stirling Moss, recently sold for a record-breaking £22.7million (NZ$44.3m).
Cox's Ferrari was unusually painted in yellow and blue, rather than the traditional red, in honour of Swedish driver Ulf Norinder. It had been crashed before, by a previous owner in 1976, and depending the quality of repair, the latest accident shouldn't change the cars value as it is so incredibly rare.
Only 39 Ferrari 250 GTOs were ever built (between 1962 and 1964) and the 225kW three-litre V12 motor was considered extremely powerful for the time.
- STAFF/IOL.CO.ZA
