Autoblog

French continue New Year's arson tradition by torching 1,193 cars

Jonathon Ramsey — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 09:59:00 EST

Just because the French government stopped divulging the number of cars set on fire during New Year's Eve doesn't mean French youth have stopped enjoying the pastime. In 2009, the year before Nicolas Sarkozy took control of Elysées Palace, there were 1,147 cars burned on NYE. This year, the new government of François Hollande - a proponent of transparency in such matters - reports that there were 1,193 cars flambéed a few nights ago.

Some watchers have criticized the French government for going public with the numbers again, saying it only encourages gangs to compete with one another. It is intriguing that there was a four-fold increase after 2008: In 2007 there were 397 cars burned, in 2008 just 372 were torched. However, with suggested reasons for the pyromania including protest, removing the evidence of crimes and false insurance claims (and with the numbers not having changed much from 2009 during three years of silence), "to tell or not to tell" doesn't really appear to have had that much impact on the situation. And that means the Gauls should probably expect more of the same next year, oui?

French continue New Year's arson tradition by torching 1,193 cars originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 03 Jan 2013 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Yep, That'll Fix It: Berlin youths torching Porsches, BMWs over economy

Jonathon Ramsey — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:59:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Europe

French youth like to burn cars on New Year's - and they don't mind lighting a few the rest of the year, either. German youths apparently really get their "arson on" when the economy takes a dip, as it happens to be doing right now. According to Bloomberg, at least 29 luxury vehicles have gone up in flames in Berlin so far this year, instigated by "'youths across Europe who 'perceive their future as rather precarious'."

The torchings in Berlin have been centered on the nicer, gentrified areas of town like Prenzlauer Berg, where some residents feel they are being squeezed out to make room for the moneyed. There is even a group called BMW that is claiming responsibility for some of the fires, but this time the acronym stands for the Movement for Militant Resistance (auf Deutsch, naturlich).

If cars are going up in smoke so quickly right now, perhaps the real question is: What will the disgruntled turn to next when things get worse? The police have created a special unit to investigate the arson, since it's considered a political act, but the advice from a Berlin police commissioner is: "I wouldn't advise someone to park their Porsche on the street." Thanks for the tip, Eric!

[Source: Bloomberg | Image: Tigerhawk]

Yep, That'll Fix It: Berlin youths torching Porsches, BMWs over economy originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sacr� bleu! French torch 1000+ cars on New Year's

Jonathon Ramsey — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 07:03:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Europe

Throughout France on New Year's Eve, 1,147 cars met crispy deaths at the hands of arsonists. That's almost 300 cars more than the previous year.

Lighting cars on fire as a form of protest has been a habit among youth in France since the 70s, but ever since the protests of 2005, after two boys were killed in an electrical station while hiding from police, burning cars has become a go-to political statement.

But if you think 1,147 cars in one night is bad -- and as car lovers, we're not saying it isn't -- in 2007, 43,000 cars were burned, and through November of 2008, 36,700 cars were burned. That's more than 100 cars getting flambeed every single day. French president Nicolas Sarkozy has told police to show the youth no mercy, but they apparently only make up 80% of the offenders. The other 20% of arsonists is suspected to be owners committing insurance fraud on a night that provides a great alibi.

[Source: France 24]

Sacr� bleu! French torch 1000+ cars on New Year's originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 07:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Another Ferrari goes up in smoke

Noah Joseph — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:56:00 EST

Filed under: Supercars, Ferrari

The picture above is, unfortunately, not a thinly-disguised prototype of a rocket-powered Ferrari F430. The sad truth is that yet another Prancing Horse has been destroyed, this time not by poor driving (at least not ostensibly), but by a fire in the engine bay. The picture was taken by the side of a Philippines highway, specifically the South Luzon Expressway that runs between metropolitan Manila and the Calabarzon region.

We don't like to minimize the passing of any Ferrari, but at least it wasn't another Enzo.

If you're sensitive to the sight of a beautiful car laid to waste, we wouldn't recommend following the link to see more, but if you're a natural born rubbernecker, Carscoop has got all the gory angles. Seriously, it's like Saving Private Ryan, only with a supercar.

[Source: Carscoop]

Another Ferrari goes up in smoke originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments