$1 Billion Car Crash in Beverly Hills
A 17-car accident sets the record for the most expensive exotic car crash in automotive history.
by George Wolfe
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — A thin layer of morning fog combined with a large amount of hubris caused a multiple, exotic car crash at a busy intersection in this affluent Los Angeles community.
A funeral procession for Sid Bothwell III, inventor of the air guitar, was snaking along Wilshire Boulevard, and was just in front of the Beverly Hotel when it was struck by numerous vehicles, all whom believed they had the right of way.
“I wanted to cry — all those beautiful cars, gone forever. I don’t know how I’ll ever get over it."
— Ricardo Jiminez, chauffeur
Exotic cars that were officially totaled in the crash include two McLaren F1s (each of which is valued at $1,000,000), one Lamborghini Diablo, three Enzo Ferraris, a Bugatti Cobra, a Bentley Bizarrini, a Gullwing Mercedes, a Rolls Royce, an Aston Martin Vanquish, three Jaguars, two Maseratis and a Porsche Boxster.
There was only one fatality: a homeless man who was trying to cross the street.
“It was total chaos,” said Ricardo Jiminez, the Bentley’s chauffeur who was charged with running over the homeless man, “I wanted to cry — all those beautiful exotic cars, gone forever. I don’t know how I’ll ever get over it.”
Carolyne Gotticelli, who was driving the Gullwing Mercedes, agreed, “It’s a real tragedy indeed. A man like that dies and there’s probably no one to collect on his insurance policy — though it’s doubtful he even had one. So it’s really a double tragedy. I guess the lesson is that some days it just doesn’t pay to leave the spa.”
The insurance companies for the exotic cars involved in the crash could not be reached for comment, but sources sleeping with insurance company staff say they’re “in a state of collective shock and grief.”