Texas Driver Accused of Crashing $1M Bugatti for Insurance

[jsr]

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/texas-driver-accused-crashing-1m-bugatti-insurance-112841892--abc-news-topstories.html

Texas Driver Accused of Crashing $1M Bugatti for Insurance
By Anthony Castellano

A trial is set to begin later this month after an insurance company filed a lawsuit against a Texas man accused of intentionally driving his $1 million Bugatti car into a lagoon to collect on the insurance policy.

At the time of the crash three years ago, the car's driver, Andy House, told police he dropped his phone while driving down a highway near Houston. House told police that when he looked up, he saw a pelican and swerved off the road and into a lagoon in Galveston, Texas

Nearby motorists, who were fascinated with the 2006 Bugatti Veyron, caught the entire accident on tape and posted it to YouTube.

"The Bugatti is one of the rarest cars in the world produced today," General Manager Tim O'Hara of Bugatti Beverly Hills said. "What makes them so expensive is the technology involved in building it." ...

[freethought]

1. I thought a Buhatti Veyron

went for more than $2 million each. Silly me. To be quite blunt, if someone has $2 Million, or $1 million for that matter, to put down on a car (basic transportation) then someone has too much money.
Surely this guy had insurance!

If anyone has ever seen a Bugatti Veyron, they are truly and awesome looking car that is capable of doing 250 mph flat out. On the other hand, they are totally impractical, other than for someone who is rich, guzzle gasoline on a scale that boggles the mind, and one actually needs special training to drive one as I understand it. Last I saw one goes for $2.4 million each.

[TheMadMonk]

2. Read the article. I'm guessing depreciation in the supercar marketplace...

...is a little fiercer than for the average soccer mombile.

[DollarBillHines]

5. I saw one at a self-serve car wash a few months ago.

I had seen it around town, so - out of curiosity - I pulled into the parking lot.

There was a young Hispanic guy washing the car. He told me that he charges the owner $200 to "detail" the car. He also said he had taken lessons from a Bugatti trainer at our local world-class race course.

That car was beautiful.

[-..__...]

7. New record... 267 mph

At 248 mph, the tires ($32,000 per set), are shot after 37 miles

[freethought]

8. WOW! How long does it take

to slow to a full stop at that speed? I know one guy who pushed his Japanese built sport bike to almost 150 mph. He said that it took more than a mile to slow to a stop and that he would never do it again. One slip up at that speed and what remains of you will be scraped up of the road. BUT 267 MPH? HOLY S__T! Unreal.

[hifiguy]

3. IIRC the first Veyrons were $1.6 million

Crazy car, and I am a sports car guy. I'd take any mid-engined Ferrari made in the last twenty years over a Veyron.

[freethought]

4. Still, that's a

huge amount of cash. I suppose if I was given the opportunity to try out driving one for a short while I would probably take it just for the experience and to say that I did. But buy and own one? Even if I had the money, definitely not. Actually, I wonder what the repair bill would be on a car like that for even a minor ailment? Scratch that, I don't think I want to know now.

I'm not much of a car guy but a Porsche 911 wouldn't be out of the question.

[slackmaster]

6. You'd have to be fucking crazy to intentionally drive a car into the water at that speed

I'm not saying that Mr. House isn't fucking crazy, just that it's not a thing a sane person would do.

[freethought]

9. I have watched the video

And it does not look as if the driver was going very fast. The car was intact when it was pulled out of the pond. One might think that all it would need is a good clean up. I'm willing to bet there was more damage than that but the Veyron didn't look like a crumpled up mess.

Hmmm. Hitting water at 267 mph? Suffice it to say if you hit the water at that speed, I don't think a rescue/retrieval/or salvage team would bother even trying to locate you. One would be food for the fishies!