- German luxury car restorer and dealer, Mechatronik, was planning to show its $3.2 million Ferrari F40 at the nearby Motorworld car show.
- Just 11 miles away from their HQ, the company decided to let a 24-year-old employee drive the Ferrari there.
- On the way, the employee reportedly lost control of the classic Italian supercar crashiong nose-first into the wall of a tunnel.
Being 24 years old is a time of wild highs and lows, as demonstrated by a German car dealership employee. On one hand, you might experience the dizzying high of being given the opportunity to drive one of the most famous supercars of all time, a Ferrari F40 that your dealership is selling to a nearby car show. On the other hand, you might experience the sobering lows of crashing the multimillion-dollar car in a tunnel.
According to German media, the employee reportedly worked for a local luxury car restorer and dealer called Mechatronik, which had a 1990 Ferrari F40 in red for sale with an asking price of nearly $3.3 million. In an effort to get some attention for it, the dealer was showing the car at the Motorworld car show.
Read: Dodge Viper Smashes Into SUV After Being Goaded By Peanut Gallery
As the event was located just 11 miles (18 km) away, the keys were handed to the 24-year-old employee. Unfortunately, the drive did not go well, reports Bild. At around 8 a.m. on Sunday, April 21, just moments into the drive, the young man ended up crashing the rare supercar.
Authorities report that about midway through a tunnel, the Ferrari suddenly veered to the right and collided nose-first into the wall. It remains unclear whether a mechanical fault is to blame for the crash or if excessive speed was a factor, but the investigation remains ongoing.
Far be it from us to engage in wild speculation, but this certainly wouldn’t be the first time that a driver was caught out by turbo lag while trying to admire the sound of their V8 engine reverberating off the walls of a tunnel. Whatever happened, the important thing is that the driver is alright physically. Emotionally, their state is less clear.
We’re also happy to report that the damage to the Ferrari is mainly to the bodywork, and that the dealer hopes to repair it. Given that the F40’s body is made of carbon fiber, the repairs are still likely to cost a pretty penny and then some.
Curiously, this isn’t the first dream car a Mechatronik employee has crashed, reports Auto Motor und Sport. In 2013, another one of their employees allegedly rolled a classic Mercedes 300 SL. Fortunately, they were uninjured, but the company said that it would start paying for driving lessons for its workers in the wake of the crash. They may want to start looking at intensive driving courses now.