Texan drives $1 million sports car into marshes

rabman5

Senior member
 Orchard Lake, MI
From MSNBC.com

Driver blames bird, dropped cellphone; Bugatti Veyron is world's priciest car

LA MARQUE, Texas - A man blamed a low-flying pelican and a dropped cell phone for his veering his million-dollar sports car off a road and into a salt marsh near Galveston. The accident happened about 3 p.m. Wednesday on the frontage road of Interstate 45 northbound in La Marque, about 35 miles southeast of Houston.

The Lufkin, Texas, man told of driving his luxury, French-built Bugatti Veyron when the bird distracted him, said La Marque police Lt. Greg Gilchrist. The motorist dropped his cell phone, reached to pick it up and veered off the road and into the salt marsh. The car was half-submerged in the brine about 20 feet from the road when police arrived. Gilchrist said he doesn't know if the car was salvageable, but in his words, "Salt water isn't good for anything." He says the man, whose identity hasn't been released, was not injured.

The police declined to release the driver's name, although the incident has drawn a great deal of attention on his vehicle. The Houston Chronicle reported the Texan has become something of a celebrity. He reportedly told the Texas City wrecker driver who towed his car that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called him Wednesday, along with several other celebrities.

“He said he was getting so many calls that he finally stopped answering his phone,” said wrecker driver Gilbert Harrison of MCH Truck and Auto, which is storing the car.

But Harrison said the driver seemed to take his very expensive mistake in stride. “He was calm,” Harrison told the Chronicle. “If it had been me, I'd have been cussing, but he was calm. I imagine inside he was probably pretty upset.”

The Bugatti Veyron is the fastest and most expensive production car in the world.

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i guess its a bit difficult picking up your phone off the floor at 140mph+....

When the car reaches 220 km/h (140 mph), hydraulics lower the car until it has a ground clearance of about 9 cm (3.5 in.). At the same time, the wing and spoiler deploy.
 
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Sign of the times. The cops don't give out his name so as to not cause him any embarrassment but the whole world gets to see him on YouTube! The ugly death of a Veyron should be a solemn and private affair... :cry:
 
Having been in that area, pelicans can be killer.

I don't buy it, him dropping his cellphone I do.

I don't really believe the second vid.....seems way too coincidental.
 
Aebous said:
Having been in that area, pelicans can be killer.

I don't buy it, him dropping his cellphone I do.

I don't really believe the second vid.....seems way too coincidental.
Was actually shown on network news...
 
Just been on the TV here (Middle East) with a different video. Shows a car on an adjacent road following/filming the Veyron for about 20 seconds before it crashes into the 'pond'. States it was a 'set up' but can't for the life on me think why!
 
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