Crash of Ferrari 250 GTO Exerts a Heavy, if Imprecise, Toll

[Michael James (cavallino_rapante]

They do - see also, John Denver, JFK Jr., Paine Stewart....

 

Its a car - it was built to race, get crashed, rebuild, repeat.  Occupational hazard for a machine built for the track, which only the very old/wealthy can afford to drive.  No younger fellows with modern racing experience (and reflexes) get to play.....such is life.  It will look like new in a couple of months.  The upside is that some old-school panel beaters and metal crafters will be gainfully employed, practicing their craft and handsomely rewarded for it.  Skills worth keeping around.

 

M

From: cjromero <clyderomerof4 [at] bellsouth.net>
To: Michael <Cavallino_Rapante [at] yahoo.com>
Cc: 'The FerrariList' <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2012 7:10 AM
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Damaged 250 GTO

Why donât these people take up flying?

Its self cleansing !

 

Clyde

 

 

From: Larry Bard [mailto:larrybard [at] hotmail.com]
Sent: Monday, July 16, 2012 9:04 PM
To: Clyde
Cc: The FerrariList
Subject: [Ferrari] Damaged 250 GTO

 

(I especially liked the part about the cost of a replica body being as LITTLE as $750k.)

July 16, 2012

Crash of Ferrari 250 GTO Exerts a Heavy, if Imprecise, Toll

By JERRY GARRETT

When a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, worth tens of millions of dollars by some estimates, was heavily damaged in a road rally near Blois, France, this month, it was widely reported as the worldâs most expensive car crash.


But given the dearth of information about the accident, and the silence of all parties involved, establishing a dollar figure for damages is a tricky proposition.


The car had been participating in a road rally to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the GTO when it collided with a privately owned vehicle. The GTO reportedly sustained severe damage on its right side and front end, but as Jalopnik noted on Monday, photos of the damaged car are all but impossible to obtain.


The owner and driver of the Ferrari, Christopher Cox, and his wife Ann, of Chapel Hill, N.C., reportedly suffered injuries, as did the occupants of the private vehicle; the extent of the injuries could not immediately be confirmed, although some reports noted Ms. Cox broke her ankle or leg. (Efforts to contact the Coxes were unsuccessful.)


In a crash involving such injuries, not to mention repairs that could run well into six figures, the question of liability is an obvious one. âMy guess is the person who was at fault pays, although I am not completely familiar with the laws of France,â said McKeel Hagerty, chief executive of Hagerty Insurance.


Within the hobby, driving a multimillion-dollar machine on racecourses and public roads is not as reckless an idea as it may seem. âThese Ferraris are bought for tours like this,â Mr. Hagerty said.


Based on the private sale in May of another 250 GTO for a reported transaction price of $35 million, the value of the crashed GTO before the accident would certainly have been remarkable. But a value estimate would have to account for some notable blemishes.


In a telephone interview, David Gooding, president of the Gooding & Company auction house of Santa Monica, Calif., referred to the carâs history on Barchetta.cc, a Web site dedicated to documenting the provenance of highly desirable collector cars. Judging from that report, the GTO, which at the time of the crash was painted in an unusual blue and yellow scheme rather than its original Ferrari red, was no stranger to the body shop.


This would be its third major crash during its rough-and-tumble half-century of existence. Barchetta.cc indicated that its original body had been removed in the mid â60s and replaced by a custom creation by Drogo, an Italian coachbuilder. The report noted that the original body was summarily discarded. The Drogo-bodied version was then involved in a crash in London in 1976, which resulted in the scrapping of the Drogo body.


The chassis was refitted with a 250 GTO replica body, which can be had for as little as $750,000. The car retained a Ferrari chassis number, 3445, which would help it retain much, if not most, of its value.


âCollectors tend to consider the chassis the car, not the body, in vehicles such as this,â Mr. Hagerty said. âBut as time goes on, and the vehicle becomes based on less and less original content, questions can be askedâ regarding its valuation, he added.


Mr. Gooding echoed Mr. Hagertyâs assessment. âIf a car is properly restored, damages donât necessarily affect the value, especially in the circumstance of a rare Ferrari 250 GTO,â he said.


Mr. Gooding declined to estimate the crashed carâs value, but said he expected the car could be completely repaired. (Motion Products of Neenah, Wis., reportedly supervised the carâs restoration in 1976.)


âIt can certainly be fixed for far less than the total valueâ of the car, Mr. Hagerty said, noting that if there was a silver lining to the misfortune, it would be that the car did not wear its original skin. âIf the car had still had its original body, the owner might have tried to save as much of it as possible,â he said. âAnd that would have cost much more, in terms of repairs and in terms of time.â


As an example, Mr. Hagerty cited a one-of-a-kind 1962 Jaguar E-Type Low Drag Coupe that was âcompletely balled upâ in a crash. âThe owner was determined to save the original body, and what resulted was a repair that took years and cost millions of dollars.â
Valuation questions aside, would the ill-starred Ferrariâs latest contretemps still earn it the infamy of being involved in âthe worldâs most expensive car crashâ?
âSo it would seem,â Mr. Gooding said.
In the superlative-obsessed realm of collector cars, such a dubious distinction could actually be a benefit, adding a potentially valuable trait to distinguish it from its peers.

_________________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options, please visit:
http://lists.ferrarilist.com/mailman/options/ferrari/cavallino_rapante%40yahoo.com

Sponsored by BooyahMedia.com
and F1 Headlines
http://www.F1Headlines.com/