Million dollars a pop — this guy wrecks one — no big deal
Fast cars and fast living at heart of Malibu mystery — OK, if you never read another story on this blog you have to click on this one and read it. As far as I’m concerned it’s the weirdest event with the weirdest people I have ever read about. It’s baffling all around.
Long before the mysterious wreck, Eriksson and his group managed to pull off one of the more amazing disappearing acts in the history of the computer gaming business. Last year, they drove their company, Gizmondo, into the ground, racking up losses of nearly $400 million. The crash case appears to be, much like the Gizmondo debacle, a series of enigmas.
Just to set the scene, here are some of the story’s curlicues: Eriksson, 44, was or was not behind the wheel of the Ferrari the morning it crashed, does or does not actually own the wrecked Enzo, is or is not connected to a loaded gun clip found the morning of the crash, and may or may not be an anti-terrorism leader with a shadowy police force.
found by Meetsy
Lesson I learn rom the story: venture capitalis will give a whole lot of money to some really flaky people.
The more I find out about this story the more sympathy I have for that poor car.
You can find an article on the crash and a pic here.
Can this all just be a huge hoax with staged crash?
This would be an elaborate hoax unparalleled in the hisory of hoaxdom. No way. More likely it’s a career criminal who scares law enforcement. He’ll do no time for anything and the cops will go bust a black kid for smoking pot.
This would be an elaborate hoax…
This is exactly what I was thinking after reading the story. Even to the kid being busted for pot.
A couple of weeks ago I caught a review of the Enzo on TV. They couldn’t lambaste it enough. It was among the most uncomfortable cars to sit in, visibility was terrible, it was impossible to parallel park because of the limited rear view, ventilation was non existent with no A/C or functioning windows.
VCs tend to be flakes. They gravitate towards their own kind.
well the car wrecker was arrested..for suspected grand larceny
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/04/09/state/n045134D12.DTL
Now I wonder what the story will be?
This isn’t exactly a new story, but this article seems to be one of the more well put together ones on this subject I’ve seen.
Mr. Fusion- the Enzo most certainly has air conditionaing. As for the other compaints, clearly you, and whoever worked on the TV program you saw totally miss the point of this vehicle. Its not a fucking minivan its a 200+mph supercar. Nobody in league of buying is even slightly bothered by those “problems”, in fact I’m sure they are a turn on.
Being a car nut for decades, I have to agree with S of Z. We have one of these in the county. 1st time I saw it coming the other way, I jumped the median with my pickup just to follow him for a spell. He kept it under 100.
Yes, I also slept alongside the Mulsanne Straight one rainy June night in the 70’s. Well, almost slept.
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You are probably correct about the AC. I am going on what I had seen some time ago. The basic theme was that these reviewers would not want to buy the car. They did offer that it is intended to boost testosterone, but not in a good way. Because of the driving difficulties, this explains why there are not too many high mileage Ferraris out there.
As I recall, other issues they had included back destroying seats, an impossible clutch, poor shifter and difficult to engage into reverse. If you have an extra and wish to share it, hey I’ll take it. But if I had the money, there are several other vehicles I would prefer, including a Lear Jet.
The reviewers were British and I think it was on the Speed Channel. It was at least two weeks ago.
The rich really are differant.
The rich? You mean the shady.
Mr. Fusion – You are are probably talking about 5th gear, which isn’t the greatest show, IMO.
If you don’t already understand the point of a supercar, in this case one of the most super of supercars, then its almost impossible to explain it.
They wouldn’t buy it, and you wouldn’t either. That’s not exactly relevant because none of you can. All ~400 of the things were pre-sold way before they were build. You’d have to be quite a loyal Ferrari owner to even be allowed to buy one in the first place.
All Ferraris are uncomforatble to drive in traffic, difficult to see out the back, etc. I seriously doubt the seats are that uncomfortable in a hard driving situation. That would equate to a lack of engineering skill on their part. The reviewer was probably just fat, or something, and since all Enzos have custom seats, and pedals made for the owner..well, like you said, he wasn’t buying it.
Did you know that every Ferrari ever built gets terrible fuel economy? Did you know that nobody cares?
The point of a car like this is to get in it, and drive it as hard as possible at least once in your life. This should obviously be done on a course, and not a CA road. Most Ferrari’s are low millage because they are not daily drivers. They aren’t good at being daily drivers, they aren’t made to be daily drivers. The people who have them have entire garages full of other amazing cars. Anyone who takes an Enzo on a road trip to Disny Land, or drives it to work every day needs to have it taken away from him.
I personally don’t like Ferraris, but if I did the F355 would probably be the coolest. Its affordable, and much more low-tech, which is more my thing. As it is I’m into GTIs, and Miatas. You probably don’t get those either though, so I feel some kinship to the shmucks at 5th Gear,
It could be Ferrari destroying one of its own to get publicity worth one hundred times the price of one $1 million car. Destroy one, sell one-hundred. The car will sell as “a car for the rich, the powerful, the mysterious and the IMMORTAL…”
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Now a Miata, that I can relate to. You are very correct about Ferrari not making this, or any of their cars, for me. But then I like to buy shoes that fit and are comfortable. I drive a Taurus and my wife drives a Grand Caravan.
Even though the “rich” might be able to afford toys, just doesn’t make them right or me envious. I don’t understand paying $200 / oz for some black fish eggs, that taste like s*** anyway, or $10,000 for a “designer” dress that looks totally ridicules.
Just because this Enzo was traveling in excess of 160 mph, doesn’t make this “super” car any better then my Taurus. It still crashed and came close to killing the driver. Sure you may blame the driver for that, but would he have been driving a sedan at 160 and litter some 400 yards of highway with debris? But as you pointed out, they really should be driven on road courses.
Well, the car isn’t plastic. Well, sort of. It has a full carbon fiber body. That is basically glued together cloth made from woven carbon fiber threads. More accurately, it is a composite, not a plastic. It is lighter than plastic but stronger than steel (by weight). However, it won’t withstand a broadside hit on a telephone pole at 160+ MPH. Nothing will, short of a M-1 Abrams tank (but good luck getting that over 60 MPH).
I like the police reconstruction animation. What was that video created with? A 386 DOS machine? Informative and damaging in a courtroom but very amateurish.
As for the Enzo, they were all pre-sold so it was not a publicity stunt to sell more Enzos. Basically, the Enzo is a street legal Formula 1 car. Formula 1 cars are not known for their comfort or adequate air conditioning either. If I recall correctly, the purchaser must fly to Italy for a fitting (custom made seats to fit your posterior). You also have to go through a driver familiarization training course before you can have the car. I would guess that Gizmondo guy didn’t get this personal driver safety course.
This car was meant for the race track. It should only be driven on the street to take the owner to his high school reunion.
I find it interesting that Gizmondo went belly up but the people behind it all got filthy rich. Investor beware!