There's been a lot of buzz lately around the crash of a rare Ferrari 250 GTO owned by American investor Christopher Cox at the Le Mans historic rally earlier this month. I haven't run anything on it yet because this all seems to be based on one English report and no photos.
Many outlets are claiming it's the "Most Expensive Car Crash" of all time, but without much proof. What's going on here?
What I can ascertain from the original story, which I assume is true, is that the rare Ferrari 250 GTO (one of 39 ever made) was in an accident. The crash was bad enough to break the arm of Cox's wife and injure two passengers in another car.
What makes this the world's most expensive car crash? The car itself is probably worth $30 million given its history and the fact that it's any 250 GTO. But did it do $30 million in damage? Almost certainly not. These older cars aren't exactly designed to withstand accidents, so the fact that the passengers survived makes me think it isn't disastrous.
The car will probably retain its value if properly restored, given the car has reportedly crashed before and is still worth lots of money.
There's also been the occasional report from people "who've seen photos from the crash" who describe it as a fully damaged front end.
It's rare for photos of any Ferrari crash not to come to the surface, let alone a 250 GTO at a public event. British media often pay a decent amount for photos like this, but no one came forward.
Has anyone seen photos of the crash? Why are they a secret? How are they a secret?
Until we see some proof we still think this is the world's most expensive car crash. Anyone who has photos can leave us a comment or email me me at matt at jalopnik dot com. They're clearly worth something to us.
(Photo Credit: Otis Blank)