Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Trial of man whose Bugatti Veyron went in the drink mysteriously delayed [w/video]]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/03/trial-of-man-whose-bugatti-veyron-went-in-the-drink-mysteriously/http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/03/trial-of-man-whose-bugatti-veyron-went-in-the-drink-mysteriously/http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/03/trial-of-man-whose-bugatti-veyron-went-in-the-drink-mysteriously/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Andy House submerged Veyron

The mysterious case of the drowned Bugatti Veyron has taken another turn toward the strange.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's bring you up to speed: Andy House, who owns an exotic car repair shop called Performance Auto Sales, crashed his Veyron into a lagoon in Texas after allegedly being distracted by a low-flying pelican... or something. Naturally, House turned a claim into his insurance company for the totaled supercar to the tune of $2.2 million, which is likely more than the car is actually worth.

Shortly thereafter, video surfaced of the crash, with nary a distraction in sight. The next makes-you-go-hmm moment occured when reports surfaced of a new Veyron, along with a pair of Lamborghini coupes and a Porsche 911 GT3, landing in House's garage. The estimated cost of these supercars, according to Jalopnik, is $2.2 million. All of this made Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company's insurance fraud lawsuit in 2011 - two years after the incident - come as little surprise.

So, the latest: For some completely unknown reason, the lawsuit between House and his insurance company has been delayed. Jalopnik reports that nobody, including the office of the Galveston Court Clerks, has been able to explain why the trial did not start as planned. That said, as soon as we find out more, so shall you.

A video from local news station KLTV can be seen below.

Continue reading Trial of man whose Bugatti Veyron went in the drink mysteriously delayed [w/video]

Trial of man whose Bugatti Veyron went in the drink mysteriously delayed [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>andy housebugattidrowned bugattiinsuranceinsurance fraudperformance auto salesPhiladelphia Indemnity Insurance CompanyveyronWed, 03 Oct 2012 16:58:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/20340642/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2012/10/03/trial-of-man-whose-bugatti-veyron-went-in-the-drink-mysteriously/20340642/article-detail.xml 20340642 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2012/10/submerged-veyron-628_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2012/10/submerged-veyron-628.jpg <![CDATA[Infamous Bugatti offshore excursion going to trial for insurance fraud [w/video]]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2011/11/30/infamous-bugatti-offshore-excursion-going-to-trial-for-insurance/http://www.autoblog.com/2011/11/30/infamous-bugatti-offshore-excursion-going-to-trial-for-insurance/http://www.autoblog.com/2011/11/30/infamous-bugatti-offshore-excursion-going-to-trial-for-insurance/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Submerged Bugatti Veyron

It appears the gentleman who piloted his Bugatti Veyron into a Texas lagoon has run into a spot of legal trouble. The insurance company that paid out $2 million for the trashed exotic is calling fraud on the whole scenario, and a federal judge has decided that the claim should go before a jury. Andy House of Lufkin, Texas, originally purchased the Veyron after securing an interest-free $1 million loan from Lloyd Gillespie. Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company alleges House attempted to pay a confidential informant to steal the Bugatti and set it on fire so that he could later claim insurance on the vehicle and double Gillespie's initial investment.

Before that could happen, however, House drove the Veyron into a salt water marsh. Amateur video captured the vehicle calmly exiting the paved surface and splashing down, and House later said that he had swerved to avoid a pelican on the road while trying to pick up a dropped cell phone. The vehicle's owner then left the supercar idling in the salt water for 15 minutes until the vehicle died of its own accord. House claimed that he was being bitten by mosquitos at the time and didn't want to return to the car to turn off the engine.

The insurance company also claims that the collector's car policy House took out on the vehicle doesn't apply in this case since House violated the terms of the policy. Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company claims House put over 1,200 miles on the vehicle in the three weeks he owned it. Hit the jump to check out the video once again.

Continue reading Infamous Bugatti offshore excursion going to trial for insurance fraud [w/video]

Infamous Bugatti offshore excursion going to trial for insurance fraud [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>andy housebugattibugatti veyronfederal judgefraudinsurance fraudjudgelloyd gillespieveyronveyron crashveyron insurance fraudveyron lakeveyron pelican crashWed, 30 Nov 2011 11:28:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/20117532/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2011/11/30/infamous-bugatti-offshore-excursion-going-to-trial-for-insurance/20117532/article-detail.xml 20117532 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/11/submerged-veyron-628_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/11/submerged-veyron-628.jpg <![CDATA[Bugatti Bird-gate Update 2: New evidence of mystery pelican, avoidance techniques [w/VIDEO]]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/17/bugatti-bird-gate-update-2-new-evidence-of-mystery-pelican-avo/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/17/bugatti-bird-gate-update-2-new-evidence-of-mystery-pelican-avo/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/17/bugatti-bird-gate-update-2-new-evidence-of-mystery-pelican-avo/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Click above to watch video after the jump

The case of the ill-fated Bugatti Veyron versus the invisible pelican has had the Internets buzzing for the past week. First we saw footage of the $1.6 million supercar as it was being pulled out of a Texas swamp. The story behind the dastardly crash was that a low-flying pelican caused the (at the time) un-named driver to swerve off the road and ultimately land in over two feet of watery muck.

Then, as if by some sort of miracle, a video appeared of the actual crash, and, quite frankly, we didn't see any pelican. Then we found out that the car was being driven by Andy House, the owner of Performance Auto Sales in Lufkin. PAS, as it turns out, fixes wrecked exotics, making the crash look all the more suspicious. Now, less than a week after the crash, one very patient viewer watched the video frame by frame, and there looks to be some evidence that something white was floating near the Veyron right before the accident. We don't know if the image was doctored and there is no definitive way to verify that the white smear is a pelican, but it certainly has the size and shape of the large and awkward-looking bird. Take a look at the picture above and tell us if you think there is a chance in hell that white blur is a pelican - or perhaps a bit of Photoshop magic.

In the meantime, it appears as though the Internets are beginning to have some fun with Mr. House and his ill-fated Veyron joy ride. First is a can of pelican repellent on sale at the Car Guy Garage website. Price tag? Only $2 million greenbacks. Of course, eBay isn't going to be left out of the sunken Veyron sweepstakes either, as one pioneering auctioneer has come up with the Apple AquaticAvoidanceSystem system for avoiding lakes, marshes, channels, bays and any other body of water. AAS.... very clever. The starting bid price is a far more manageable $800, but you're buying a pair of Apple ear buds so that next you don't blame a hapless bird for dropping your iPhone and driving into a marsh. Happy bidding, Veyron owners!

[Sources: Car Guys Garage; eBay Motors]

Continue reading Bugatti Bird-gate Update 2: New evidence of mystery pelican, avoidance techniques [w/VIDEO]

Bugatti Bird-gate Update 2: New evidence of mystery pelican, avoidance techniques [w/VIDEO] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>aasandy houseAndyHousebugattibugatti veyronBugattiVeyronpelicanpelican bugattipelican veyronPelicanBugattiPelicanVeyronperformance auto salesPerformanceAutoSalesveyronwrecked bugattiwrecked veyronWreckedBugattiWreckedVeyronTue, 17 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19242919/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2009/11/17/bugatti-bird-gate-update-2-new-evidence-of-mystery-pelican-avo/19242919/article-detail.xml 19242919 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/11/lookautoblog_thumbnail.png http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/11/lookautoblog.png <![CDATA[Bugatti Bird-gate Followup: Driver identity revealed <b>[*UPDATE:</b> Now with actual crash video!]]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/13/bugatti-bird-gate-update-driver-identity-revealed-gov-schwarz/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/13/bugatti-bird-gate-update-driver-identity-revealed-gov-schwarz/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/13/bugatti-bird-gate-update-driver-identity-revealed-gov-schwarz/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Bugatti Veyron of Andy House from Lufkin, Texas - Click above to view video

As we've already reported (stop tipping us on this!), yesterday a Texas man lost control of his Bugatti Veyron and ended up driving into the two-foot shallows of a nearby salt marsh. The driver claimed a kamikaze pelican that flew too low was to blame for the Veyron's bath. The Lufkin Daily News has now identified that driver as Andy House, the owner of Performance Auto Sales in Lufkin.

Perhaps too coincidentally, the company restores wrecked exotics for resale, which makes this whole situation seem like something akin to a mortician offing his own family members to drum up business. Unthinkable, for sure, and we hope it's not the case here as we'd hate to discover later that this Veyron was sacrificed as a publicity stunt.

Apparently a lot of people have been trying to reach Mr. House to discover exactly what happened. We're not sure what the connection is, but the group of interested callers is said to even include California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. We don't think the car has been terminated, but it might be a while before it's back.

*UPDATE: Now with incredible one-in-a-million video footage of the actual crash after the jump - and no, we don't see a pelican, either. However, we do hear explicit language, so this one is NSFW.

*UPDATE 2: Video working again.

[Sources: Lufkin Daily News; YouTube]

Continue reading Bugatti Bird-gate Followup: Driver identity revealed [*UPDATE: Now with actual crash video!]

Bugatti Bird-gate Followup: Driver identity revealed [*UPDATE: Now with actual crash video!] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Andy HouseAndyHousebugattibugatti veyronBugattiVeyronLufkinPerformance Auto SalesPerformanceAutoSalesveyronveyron crashVeyronCrashFri, 13 Nov 2009 20:31:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19239277/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2009/11/13/bugatti-bird-gate-update-driver-identity-revealed-gov-schwarz/19239277/article-detail.xml 19239277 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/11/bugatti-veyron-swim-1258147199_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/11/bugatti-veyron-swim-1258147199.jpg -1 2