Fiat boss behind wheel of latest Ferrari to bite the dust
One would think that with all the attention surrounding accidents with supercars there would be greater care on public roads. Well, fast cars are fun, and fun cars tend to make you forget both local laws, and the more fundamental laws of physics. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne knows this as well as anyone after he crashed his 599 GTB on Friday in Switzerland. Marchionne rear-ended a Renault while going about 60 MPH, which means the collision had little to do with the typical loss of control, and a lapse of attention was more likely the culprit. A few different Italian newspapers mentioned that the Renault "suddenly slowed", but the last time we checked, a Ferrari can stop a lot faster than any Renault.
Luckily nobody was hurt in the accident, but after a tango with a French car and a Swiss guard rail, the 599 GTB looks like little more than a $275,000 parts donor. It's really amazing that the 76 year-old driver of the Renault didn't end up with a bad back or whiplash, as it isn't every day that a Ferrari driven by a top auto exec comes flying into one's behind. It sounds a lot like winning the lottery, but without the risk of putting up $1 for the ticket.
[Source: Corriere.it via autoblog.it, photo by PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
sheikhness 10:25AM (11/05/2007)
hey its switzerland, not USA... might be that the driver of renault has few millions in nazi gold stashed away
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Geoff 10:34AM (11/05/2007)
Although I realize this quote was probably in jest:
"It's really amazing that the 76 year-old driver of the Renault didn't end up with a bad back or whiplash, as it isn't every day that a Ferrari driven by a top auto exec comes flying into one's behind. It sounds a lot like winning the lottery, but without the risk of putting up $1 for the ticket."
....it represents what is clearly wrong with the thinking of some people in this country and our tort system.
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zach 10:42AM (11/05/2007)
Haha, maybe the Ferrari factory workers will stage one of their famous "strikes" to protest their boss being a jackass and ruining one of their creations.
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Russell 11:22AM (11/05/2007)
It really doesn't matter what car it is Ferrari or Yugo as long as everyone waleked away from the accident.
Afterall its just metal and plastic.
zach 11:33AM (11/05/2007)
it was a joke, russell, relax.
as for a ferrari being just metal and plastic - i'm not so sure i agree with that.
garlinski 10:54AM (11/05/2007)
60mph rear end? From the looks of that picture, looks like he was going a bit faster than that... must be nice to own one, let alone wreck one.
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why not the LS2/LS7? 12:01PM (11/05/2007)
Seriously don't care about wrecks of expensive cars. The car is still in production. His insurance will pay for it (or his deep pockets), and they'll build another one to replace it.
There's no shortage of parts to make more of these and no shortage of money to pay for it.
When those Cosworth Vegas were destroyed it was a bummer, they won't be back.
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Flea 12:27PM (11/05/2007)
by the state of the car, it seems he didn't even TRY to brake. Perhaps he should use a 500 which is still an excellent car, and leave the Ferrari driving to Montezemolo.
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Roger Rodrigues 5:49PM (11/05/2007)
American lawyers and their tort law are not permitted in Switzerland, or anywhwere else in the world
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Amedeo 1:00PM (11/05/2007)
According to multiple news sources, the senile driver of the Renault abruptly slowed down causing the "slow"-travelling ferrari to rear-end without much time at all to react.
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