Monterey 2009: Ferrari 250 TR gets airborne, makes friends with tire wall
Ferrari 250 TR crash at the Monterey Historics - Click above for high-res image gallery
While many events during the Monterey car week simply involve parking classics on a golf course, we can appreciate the fact that many vintage car owners are willing to put their priceless automobiles on a track. While the Monterey Historics do everything they can to promote the safety of both cars and drivers, there is never a guarantee that accidents won't happen. We were reminded of that fact this weekend when a 1958 Ferrari 250 TR completely lost its brakes before Laguna Sega's Corkscrew, caught air while going through the gravel trap, and came to a stop only after hitting a tire wall.
This particular TR, owned by David Love, has been a regular at the Monterey Historics and other vintage events for more than 15 years, so it was especially tough to see it get banged up. From what we've heard, Love was shaken up but is okay, and the car can be repaired.
We happened to be at the Corkscrew, camera in hand, when the 250 TR went off course, and were able to capture Love's off-track excursion. If you can handle seeing a beautiful, multi (multi) million dollar Testa Rossa getting damaged, then check out the entire sequence of photos in the gallery below.
Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Pat 12:34PM (8/17/2009)
While the crash won't make history, you can certainly qualify it as an "historic crash" lol!
This is very heart-breaking .... then again, some would argue that there is no point in having toys if you won't use them
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TigerMil 2:21PM (8/17/2009)
Kind of criminal for a car like this to 'lose its brakes.' What happened to tech inspection, even for a vintage car, and what kind of pads (vintage? LOL!) did it have on it? These are hydraulic brakes and the OEM rubber innards have probably gone south after 50 years!
Danimal 12:35PM (8/17/2009)
Is it me or does it look even more awesome with rubber streaked across the white circle and No.9 on the side? ;)
Good for him using it like it's meant to be used.
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wtfJeeper 12:53PM (8/17/2009)
Agreed!
chuck goolsbee 1:42PM (8/17/2009)
Bravo indeed. I'd rather see a car of this stature get a ding under intended use than sitting in a museum slowly rotting from the inside out, while it's exterior is continually buffed to a high sheen. This is what this car was made to do. It can, and will be repaired, and it will race again.
David Love, you have my undying respect and admiration!
--chuck
Alex 1:55PM (8/17/2009)
Couldn't agree more. The car was manufactured with the intent of being put through its paces, and Mr. Love is doing exactly that. I have a lot of respect for him, and i am very happy to hear that the car can be repaired.
Cameron 12:38PM (8/17/2009)
Mad props for giving a classic a workout, and you gotta love some of those faces as his mind realizes what's about to happen!
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Jared 12:41PM (8/17/2009)
That'll buff right out ;)
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abbas350 12:43PM (8/17/2009)
DUUUDE! NOOOOO!
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Matt K 12:45PM (8/17/2009)
Someone please make an animated GIF of this...
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Big Al 1:27PM (8/17/2009)
[img]http://www.gifninja.com/Workspace/11dc786a-fec9-4e1d-9636-30f72323e3f9/output.gif[/img] I made it here: [url]www.gifninja.com[/url]
raw toast 1:34PM (8/17/2009)
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l105/raw_toast/Wreck.gif
BLS 1:35PM (8/17/2009)
@ Big Al
Nice. I tried and failed.
To all: click his link and remove the [/img] at the end.
kfj 2:04PM (8/17/2009)
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/1532/lollercoaster.gif
Venom 12:45PM (8/17/2009)
Gotta respect the dude for driving it and racing it like it is supposed to.
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Arkz 12:48PM (8/17/2009)
Oh man, that's horrible. I hate to see something like that happen to such a beautiful, old car. At least the driver's okay.
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brad 3:23PM (8/17/2009)
This is merely a flesh wound compared to what this car was resurrected from! If it can come back from this: http://www.tamsoldracecarsite.net/DavidLove3.html then I think we'll be seeing David back on the track in no time : )
ForgedInternals 12:48PM (8/17/2009)
I lol'd at this not because of the crash but because I jump the Rahal Straight in Forza all the time it makes for some good photos
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Matt (that likes ford) 1:34PM (8/17/2009)
Me too!
+1 for the Forza reference
happyfun86 2:05PM (8/17/2009)
Lol, I don't even bother trying to navigate the Corkscrew during a short race. I just fly over the dirt and catch the track ahead of the turns.