Ferrari Enzo crash in Malibu,Ca.

[Terry Abbott]

Wow, this would ruin your day!

http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_052110615.html

Terry

[formulasuper]

So, I guess after seeing this picture and the previous picture a while back of the ex-Schumaker F1 busted in half proves that racing technology does transfer to production cars!

[Purple Frog]

Looking at those pictures, I'm guessing the car is not a 'total'.

[formulasuper]

Looking at those pictures, I'm guessing the car is not a 'total'.

I agree, surely it could be repaired for less than $600k or $1 million!

[Thomas Copeland]

[size=2]Probably some "cracked-up" rock star who didn't want to get caught in the car while under the influence. I know that part of Malibu fairly well. Those hills that the the driver ran into are full of multi-million dollar homes owned by the retentive Hollywood elite, up-tight chic models, and boozed-out rockers. [/size]
[size=2][/size]

[racerxlilbro]

[size=2]Probably some "cracked-up" rock star who didn't want to get caught in the car while under the influence. I know that part of Malibu fairly well. Those hills that the the driver ran into are full of multi-million dollar homes owned by the retentive Hollywood elite, up-tight chic models, and boozed-out rockers. [/size]

Geez, you say that like it's a BAD thing...

[dc]

There were apparently 2 people in the vehicle, and both walked (or ran) away. There aren't that many Enzos in the world, the owner shouldn't be difficult to find.

First-hand photos from a bud in California...

[carnut169]

I think they said the owner claims he was not driving- the blood on the driver's side airbag may tell a different story.

[Thomas Copeland]

Sell a few more records, buy another red toy...

[dc]

How much do you have to have had to drink to leave a million dollar car on the road?

Or how much money do you have to have to not care?




This will get really interesting. I want to know who it was now...

[Brad Ellingson]

Stefan Ericksson, 44, of Bel Air, who escaped the wreck with only a cut lip.

[Thomas Copeland]

Never let a guy named Dietrich drive your Enzo:


MALIBU, Calif. Authorities have identified the owner of a Ferrari Enzo that virtually disintegrated in a collision with a power pole yesterday morning on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.

L.A. County sheriff's department officials say 44-year-old Stefan Ericksson says he was a passenger in the car that had been worth some $1 million. He says the driver was a German acquaintance he knew only as Dietrich. He says Dietrich ran into the hills after the collision.

But officials tell the L.A. Times they're skeptical of Ericksson's version of events. Deputies say Ericksson had a blood-alcohol level of 0.09, slightly more than the legal 0.08 limit. Plus, only the driver's side air bag deployed and it had blood on it.

Law enforcement agencies spent three hours looking for a driver on foot and in helicopters, but didn't turn up anyone else connected to the car.


Okay, this guy must be in the music industry. Probably one of those "producer" types...I'm sticking to my original story on this...it's better than the Dietrich one anyway...

[GeoffRain]

That looks like a nice alternate engine for my Zink!

[dc]

Wasn't Stefan Eriksson a Swede tennis player?

[Dave Hopple]

Well, I really hope they find this "Dietrich" guy.....


-Dave

[Eric E.]

[Scott Hanba]

A quick www search on Stefan Eriksson turns up:

Filmographer (per imdb.com)
European hockey player
Swedish Burger King manager
Scientist in Colorado

Don't think those careers can afford an Enzo....hmmm

[Beartrax]

Notice in the photo looking down the road (posted by Doug) 1) that the telephone pole is UPSIDE DOWN and 2)how far down the road the pieces came to rest.

WOW!

[Jim Garry]

I did something similar once in a Formula Vee. It cost me $845 to fix.


Jim

[Agitator]

A further internet search will show that a Stefan Ericksson also competed at LeMans last year.....driving a Ferrari!

He was in car #92: http://www.racingsportscars.com/phot...-19-photo.html

Man, if only I had some time on my hands today....

[dc]

Ooooh, now we're getting somewhere...






His name turned up in another European article about... Gizmondo, a hand-held electronics gaming device. Check this article here to see how he can afford the write-off of the Enzo. Looks like he was also a part owner of former IRL sponsor Northern Lights.



I think we have a winner!

[dc]

Damn, this is good stuff...

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=11845

[Bill Bonow]

This guy may be the Swedish version of Tony Soprano

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content...=pub&aid=12547

[Thomas Copeland]

Yeah, Looks like they did the Soprano "bust-out" on ol' Gizmondo...

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=14886


I was right about at least one music connection...they paid to meet Sting!

[Agitator]

We're better and uncovering mysteries than the Hardy Boys and Scooby Doo's gang put together!

We've discovered who the evil Stefan Eriksson is....now, I reveal who the mysterious German, Deitrich, is:



http://www.wheels24.co.za/Wheels24/N...856623,00.html

Dietrich Mateschitz, none other than the owner of Red Bull.

[Scott Hanba]

[size=2]Stefan must have been trying to land sponsorship for this year with his driving skills![/size]

[Dave Hopple]

http://www.wreckedexotics.com/special/enzo/

-Dave

[Thomas Copeland]

If you following the "pretty young girl" getting outta Erikson's car link you'll find an interesting clip of Mika Hakkinen and his wife driving a F1 McLaren in the snow.

I think this is the link to it:

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/6...AA2AB1E95E.htm


or check out this one: F1 car full speed on street-(actually an F3000)

http://videos.streetfire.net/hottest...1051EFD4B3.htm


There are quite a few interesting videos on that site.

How about some hillclimb footage (these guys are nuts)--

http://videos.streetfire.net/hottest...A1D576FA62.htm




.

[Mike Ahrens]

OK, so the guy has a wreck and his car breaks in two. I've heard of that happening before. Maybe he can borrow a friend's car and race that one. And if he's really lucky, maybe he knows a bunch of guys that will back him up in case something bad happens to the loaner.

[Purple Frog]

Yeah... what gives? Doesn't he know that stunt is old hat?

Only difference... I loaded up on the margaritas after the stunt, not before.

[Thomas Copeland]

This story is now on the Yahoo Buzz log:

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz_log/entry...r=fp-buzz-more


[size=2]Malibu Mystery Races Away With Buzz
Thursday March 02, 2006 11:00AM PT[/size]


[size=2][/size]
[size=2]Wrecked Ferrari[/size]It was a rare and exotic animal: a Ferrari Enzo, one of just 400 ever brought forth into this world. When you saw this thing coming, you didn't look away. If you wanted to own it, it cost you a cool $1 mil -- and it could earn you a whole lot of buzz.

Last week, Swedish millionaire Stefan Ericksson slipped behind the wheel of his Enzo with, he says, a German named "Dietrich." They took the vehicle out on Malibu's Pacific Coast Highway. And they let that baby run.

The car, that fierce, beautiful creature, hit speeds of 162 mph; it was practically airborne. It crested the hill, neared a power pole, and perhaps then, or perhaps never, did its driver spot the bump in the road.

Now we have just 399 Ferrari Enzos left idling in existence. "Dietrich," if he exists at all, has run off into the hills. Ericksson, a former Gizmondo exec, is nursing a bruised lip behind the gates of his Bel-Air mansion and claiming that he remembers nothing. And a slew of searches are roaring at unseen speeds up the Buzz. From "ferrari" to "enzo ferrari" to "enzo crash," from "stefan ericksson" to "gizmondo" to "malibu," the searches just keep rolling in. As police investigate a gun magazine found near the wreck, Scotland Yard gets involved, and reporters mutter "plot thickens," we're watching for more buzz to come down the road.

[Matt M.]

CNN is reporting Stefan Erickson has left the country?

http://www.cnn.com/video/partners/cl...ari.crash.affl

[Thomas Copeland]

There's now a computer recreation of the crash and how the Ferrari split in half.

I think you'll find it here:


http://www.yahoo.com/s/280417

[Thomas Copeland]

Now they're saying the whole thing may have been taped.

This link has the story plus another link to the crash animation of how the Ferrari got sliced in two--check out the top right corner of the page--

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...home-headlines

[Mark H]

Man he (or she?) slid a long way... but at that high and aggraveted speed I guess that happens? A foot or 2 more and the driver wood (get it) have ate the pole?

[Thomas Copeland]

After 25 minutes already Yahoo's 2nd most emailed news story:


Man in L.A. Ferrari Crash Is Arrested

LOS ANGELES - The Swedish video game entrepreneur involved in the 162-mph crash of a Ferrari has been arrested, accused of grand theft for an unauthorized collection of exotic cars, authorities said.

Detectives concluded that the wrecked Enzo Ferrari — one of only 400 made — along with a Mercedes and another Enzo Ferrari in Stefan Eriksson's collection were actually owned by British financial institutions, said Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.

Eriksson apparently brought the cars to Los Angeles when he moved from Britain last year, but the financial institutions that held the titles said his payments had lapsed. Authorities have said the $600,000 Mercedes had been reported stolen to London's Scotland Yard. The Ferrari was worth more than $1 million.

All three cars have been confiscated, and Eriksson, 44, was arrested at his Bel-Air home Saturday, Whitmore said.

He is being held without bail because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement put a hold him, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

The Ferrari crash spun into a web of mystery when Eriksson told authorities he was only a passenger in the car and that the driver was a German acquaintance he knew only as Dietrich. He said Dietrich ran into the hills, but a search by deputies turned up no one.

Officials have questioned Eriksson's story, noting that only the driver's side air bag had blood on it and Eriksson had a cut lip. The front of the red Ferrari crumpled when it slammed into a poll on the Pacific Coast Highway on Feb. 21.

Eriksson was an executive with Gizmondo, a European video game company that filed for bankruptcy.

[ghoneycutt]

Looks like the car came over to the US in a ship container, was sent back to the bank in a shoe box.

[Thomas Copeland]

From yesterday's LA Times--

The Gizmondo Saga--

read it here (they should make this story into a movie);

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedi...ines-frontpage

I especially llke the bit about the $1500 lap dancers! I guess the Spearmint Rhino Club is going to be on my must-see list next time I'm in London (probably can't afford the door cover charge though...).

Read all three pages to get the entire story and check out the photo of Erikksson with Eddie Jordan. This thing goes all the way to F1.


EDIT: One problem with linking to outside website (especially newspaper sites these days) is you might have to register to view the story. But it's free. I would normally just cut and paste the entire story here but I think it's copyrighted.

.

[Dave]

From yesterday's LA Times--

EDIT: One problem with linking to outside website (especially newspaper sites these days) is you might have to register to view the story.

.

Try this. There's a Firefox extension that makes this very painless.

http://www.bugmenot.com/

[Beartrax]

The saga continues...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061023/...ime_ferrari_dc