Posted on July 7, 2014.
We don’t normally post pictures of crashed Ferraris – except when overpaid and underskilled footballers manage to do it – but to that list we must now add hapless technicians. This story was published by Mail Online:
This picture of a banged-up Ferrari Enzo is enough to make any car lover shed a tear.
The rare million-dollar vehicle was involved in a crash in Stamford, Connecticut on Monday when a mechanic took the sports car out for a ride and spun out of control.
The car’s owner, 71-year-old mattress company mogul Michael Fux, had placed the prized car in the care of Greenwich dealership Miller Motorcars.
The man driving the Ferrari has been identified as technician Leonardo Garcia, 40, was was accompanied by Aston Martin technician Daniel Palchik, 31, for the ride. Garcia lost control of the 650-horsepower car while traveling up the northbound entrance of Interstate 95 around 8:45am, causing the car to fishtail. The car spun across three lanes before hitting a bridge wall and smashing into the center divider, heavily damaging the right side of the car.
Private investigator John Michael Hoda was driving southbound when he saw the accident, and told MailOnline he was the first to respond to the scene. He says he pulled both Garcia and Palchik out of the ‘totalled’ vehicle to safety and that neither were wearing seat belts.
Garcia suffered a minor cut while Palchik was unhurt.
Neither the dealership or owner have commented on the crash, but Fux is no doubt mourning the loss of the car.
He told Bed Times Magazine, a trade publication serving the sleep products industry, that he is a ‘car freak’ and dreamed of owning rare vehicles since he was a little boy growing up poor in Cuba. When he struck his fortune founding mattress company Sleep Innovations, Fux started collecting like mad and last year owned 129 vehicles including 25 Ferraris, 12 Porsches, 11 Aston Martins and six Rolls-Royces.
The Ferrario Enzo is a special edition sports car named after the Italian motor company’s founder, and only 400 were made.
But it’s not Fux’s most valuable car. He also owns a Ferrari FXX, one of only 30 in the world, as well as the first-ever bespoke Rolls-Royce Ghost. He houses the collection in a 30,000-square foot garage at his Milford, NJ home named ‘Horse Power Farm’. Fux hopes to build a museum to house the collection, with admission benefiting the Miami Children’s Hospital.