It was enough to make any car enthusiast with petrol coursing through the veins weep, and has apparently enraged US fans of a certain Italian sports car brand whose trademark is a prancing horse.
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The sad facts are these: a US$1 million Ferrari Enzo, in red, of course, and one of only 400 built, a stretch of California’s Pacific Coast highway near the movie star enclave of Malibu, witness reports of a 6am “drag race” against a Mercedes-Benz SLR; a power pole, a 1200-foot wreckage trail over four lanes of road, a vanished mystery driver and a blood-alcohol reading allegedly over state limits…
Reporters descending on the scene were said to have been hoping for a another high-profile celebrity/movie star car crash – there have been a few lately – and singer Britney Spears (who lives in nearby Santa Monica) and movie star Nicolas Cage are just two of the many locals who own exotic Ferraris.
Instead, the media quickly discovered an interesting twist to the story. The owner, named by the Los Angeles Times as Stefan Eriksson, had been a top executive of a video game system maker called Gizmondo that had failed after developing a hand-held device for video gamers to experience virtual street racing.
His injuries were little more than a bleeding mouth, apparently matching bloodstains on the driver’s airbag.
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By GlobalDataThe paper said Eriksson received a US$100,000 car allowance from the firm and once drove in the famous Le Mans motor race in France in a Ferrari covered with Gizmondo logos.
The games company was launched last year in London and one of its titles, Chicane, involved exotic car racing. But, just prior to its US launch last autumn, Eriksson resigned from the firm while in Los Angeles to market the device – his resignation came days before a Swedish newspaper alleged that he had been convicted of counterfeiting in Sweden in the early 1990s, the LA Times said. The company quickly collapsed, unable to sell enough devices to justify to game makers that they should supply more titles for the Gizmondo format, the report added.
The paper said Eriksson had told authorities that he was a passenger in the car driven by a mysterious German man whom Eriksson knew only as Dietrich when the Enzo lost control and crashed. He reportedly said Dietrich fled on foot up a canyon and disappeared.
Detectives told the paper they were sceptical of that explanation and planned to re-interview Eriksson. Officials also told the LA Times they were not searching for the alleged driver.
Reports also noted that Eriksson was allegedly over the legal blood-alcohol limit and, though he claimed to have been a passenger, he had a bleeding mouth after the crash and there were blood stains only on the driver’s airbag.
It could get worse for the man. The LA Times noted that the investigation is also examining how the Enzo got into the United States and how Eriksson came to possess it.
On a brighter note, though some see the loss of such a rare car as a tragedy, the crash and Eriksson’s trifling injuries demonstrated the Enzo’s incredible strength.
The car snapped a power pole like a twig and split in half, with the engine flying across the road. The debris trail was 1,200 feet long yet pictures and video clips on the LA Times website show an almost undistorted passenger compartment and doors apparently opening normally.
The paper said Eriksson’s life was probably saved by the car’s tough carbon composite compartment and seat that were designed to keep occupants in place and absorb crash impact.
Ferrari UK communications director Al Clarke told just-auto that the $US1 million value the US media put on the ‘totalled’ Enzo sounded about right.
“They’re a rare car in the automotive world today as they are actually appreciating in value. The original UK price was about GBP420,000 but if you look in the Sunday Times today you’ll see GBP700,000 being asked.
“They were a limited series and the value now is quite astounding.”
Clarke said Ferrari carried out an “immense” test programme when developing the Enzo with an emphasis on “safety considerations”. The LA crash result was “a testament to the strength of the car”.
He added he was unaware if any other Enzo had been written off.
Graeme Roberts
