Only in L.A. would this story cause such a stir, and this time it didn't even involve a freeway chase!

Yesterday, some guy driving a Ferrari Enzo (one of the rarest and most expensive cars in the world -- basically a street-legal race car that doesn't include any power accessories or even a radio) decided to race somebody in a Mercedes during the predawn hours along Pacific Coast Highway going through Malibu. Obviously, expensive taste does not always correlate with common sense or driving skill, as the Ferrari crashed into a utility pole at 120 mph, which cut the car in half and sent debris scattering across both sides of the highway. The accident was broadcast all over the morning news, and shut down both sides of PCH during the morning commute.

Apparently, the owner of the car walked away from the accident with only a bloodied lip, so the racing-spec safety systems on the Enzo worked just as they were designed. However, this is where the story gets its bit of only-in-LA weirdness -- the owner claimed that some other dude named Deitrich actually drove the car and ran into the hills after the accident. Problem with this story is that only driver side airbag deployed. Seems that the car's owner has got other issues on the side as well. And now, the owner has to contend with the wrath of the Ferrari nation, which has been aghast that anybody can be this reckless with a car worth over a million dollars, particularly one that's revered virtually as a work of art like the Ferrari Enzo.

As one Ferrari fan interviewed by the LA Times put it, crashing an Enzo is the equivalent of buying a Van Gogh painting and setting it on fire.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedi...home-headlines

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...home-headlines


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