Top Speed Cars Car News

Technically, we don’t know if this is the first Aston Martin Rapide that has been crashed since the car was unveiled almost a year ago, but we are absolutely hoping that it is, and that no other Rapides have been cracked and banged before this.

The incident happened in Netherlands, near a school in Eindhoven. Although we have no details as to what really happened, the pictures shown here lead us to believe that it wasn’t a horrific display since the Rapide isn’t that damaged. We are guessing that there was a sudden braking scenario and the car behind him just wasn’t fast enough – or was driving too close – to brake in time. Anyone with details on this accident, please drop us an email or comment below. We have no details on what really happened, but the Rapide in the pictures looks pretty less damaged, so we presume nothing bad happened. Most likely something involving a sudden brake and the car behind not reacting in time. If you have more details on this, please let us know!

First Aston Martin Rapide crashed originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 10 September 2010 18:00 EST.

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Top Speed Cars Car News

With 252 HP under the hood and a weight of 1,477 lbs you would say that the Lotus 2-Eleven is not a difficult car to handle. However, on a race track like the Nurburgring, things are a little bit different.

While there are no details on what exactly happened, the video is more than explicit. Apparently, the driver was driving too fast and lost control while trying to take a corner. The car ended in a bulwark, but luckily, the driver was able to get out of the car on his own two feet, and with little injury. The car, on the other hand, saw the short end of this destructive stick.

The 2-Eleven makes the 0 to 60 mph sprint in just 3.6 seconds and can hit a top speed of 155 mph, so it’s apparent that the power under this hood is just too much for some of its owners!

Video: Lotus 2Eleven crashed at Nurburgring originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 7 September 2010 20:00 EST.

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Top Speed Cars Car News

If you’re one of those lucky few that calls themselves a Ferrari owner, the past few months have been marked with a number of horrific crashes and unceremonious fires to a number of Ferrari models, most notably that of the fire crisis the 458 Italia has found itself in.

Unfortunately, the total number of Ferrari crashes continues to increase, with the most recent one occurring in Zagreb, Croatia over the weekend. From what we’ve gathered, the accident occurred sometime Sunday evening after the driver of this Ferrari 430 lost control of his car before driving it straight into a tree. As you can see by the photos, the crash left very little of the 430’s hood intact, prompting us to wonder whether this car can still be salvageable.

The only good news to come out of this crash was that the driver of the car escaped the accident without any injuries. And given the extent of damage sustained by his car, that dude should be counting his blessings.

Ferrari 430 crashes after making a bee-line towards a tree originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 6 September 2010 23:00 EST.

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Top Speed Cars Car News

We’ve seen some pretty mind-boggling headlines about traffic incidents lately, like that ten-day traffic jam in China. Now, we have another ridiculous traffic episode to report – a 69-car pileup along westbound Interstate 10.

You read that right, fellas. It included 69 cars. It’s absolutely ridiculous to comprehend the thought of 69 cars involved in a chain reaction of collisions, but as it turns out, that’s exactly what happened when heavy rains caused sub-standard driving conditions in the area of I-10 near downtown Phoenix.

The crashes resulted in a number of injuries with six people being taken to a number of hospitals in the area for treatment of injuries, two of which were serious cases. In addition to that, a number of other people were also treated at the scene for minor scrapes and bruises.

According to local authorities, the crashes came as a result of the sudden downpour that eventually made the roads impossible to see, causing cars to hit each other in rapid succession. Hours after the pileup, a number of people were still at the scene and were being given snacks and refreshments by local authorities while keeping them in city buses until arrangements were finished to take these stranded motorists back to their homes.

No word yet on how long the highway is going to be closed, but we can only imagine that the clean-up from this traffic incident will be a pretty significant one, and could take days – at the very least.

Interstate-10 Westbound becomes the scene of a 69-car pileup originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 1 September 2010 18:00 EST.

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Top Speed Cars Car News

With reports coming out that Ferrari is in the process of doing a recall for the 458 Italia over the unprecedented number of fire incidents the supercar has been involved in the past month, we’re crossing our fingers that this recall happens sooner rather than later.

And it’s not hard to figure out why, either. To date, there have been about 11 incidents involving Ferrari’s new supercar either getting involved in some accident or getting burned down to a smoking block of twisted metal. We don’t know exactly what the cause is of these incidents, but clearly, something needs to be done there. So it’s good to know that the Prancing Horse isn’t taking these incidents sitting down.

But before we start letting out a collective sigh of relief, we’re back with yet more somber news for those 458-loving people out there. Apparently, there’s been another incident with the supercar in Glasgow, Scotland.

Read the rest of the story after the jump.

Ferrari 458 Italia has another crash scare in Glasgow, Scotland originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 31 August 2010 15:00 EST.

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Top Speed Cars Car News

Imagine cruising along a highway on a relatively peaceful day and, all of a sudden, a Pontiac Firebird blasts through on the left side, hits the guard rail, and gets sent straight up into the air before breaking into three pieces and disintegrating in a matter of seconds right before your very eyes.

Totally unbelievable, right? It also happened. Recently, in fact.

The scene was the I-675 highway in Ohio where a police cruiser was driving along with the in-car camera turned on. What happened next was a scene straight out a Michael Bay movie. A Pontiac Firebird driven by a 19-year old blasted past the cruiser and proceeded to do the launch and crash right in front of the flabbergasted police officer.

Miraculously, the driver of the Firebird survived the crash, but is in critical condition after being airlifted to Miami Valley Hospital. While we’re hoping that he fights his way back to recovery, we don’t know what on Earth this guy was doing when he decided to use the guard rail as an off-ramp.

Video: Pontiac Firebird involved in hellacious crash after catching air originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 26 August 2010 14:00 EST.

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Top Speed Cars Car News

And the hits keep on coming for the Ferrari 458 Italia. In what is turning into one of the year’s most ridiculous and unexpected stories, another brand-new Ferrari 458 Italia caught fire – this time, it’s in China – after it was reported that the car’s engine compartment started smoking as it was being taken out for a drive.

To date, this is the 11th Ferrari 458 Italia that has either crashed or burned to the ground and with the way things are going, we’re afraid that this won’t be the last incident of what looks to be a cursed supercar.

It might seem a little harsh to put the ‘cursed’ label on the 458 Italia, but at this point, all these incidents piling up one after another in rapid succession is making us think that something’s definitely amiss here. Whatever it is, we’re just hoping that it stops sooner than later. Check that: we’re hoping it stops now because our hearts can only take so much. Really. It’s becoming depressing already.

Hit the jump to check out some of the other crashes/fires involving the Ferrari 458; that is, if you can handle it.

Another Ferrari 458 Italia burns down; this time in China originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 25 August 2010 08:00 EST.

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Top Speed Cars Car News

If you’ve ever heard of Murphy’s Law, then you pretty much know how it goes; “Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” And if you have been keeping tabs on the Ferrari 458 Italia recently, then you wouldn’t be the least bit remiss when you start associating that famous – or infamous – tenet with the Italian supercar.

You see, over the past few days, 458 Italias from all over the world have crashed and/or burned down more times than Lindsay Lohan has had tequila shots. The figures, unfortunate as they may be, speak for themselves. In the past three months, nine models have already been sent to the heap yard and this latest one, which happened in the Czech Republic, pushes the total to ten. Only this week, we’ve reported on four other incidents and with this crash, that’s five reported incidents of the new Ferrari supercar burning down or crashing in a heap.

This recent case, though, may be the most frustrating of them all because this car was as brand new as a shiny new pair of fresh-out-of-the-box Air Jordans. With only 300 kilometers – that’s a little less than the distance from New York City to Baltimore, Maryland – on its odometer, the owner just got his car fresh from the dealership when the crash occurred. That’s about the worst imaginable way to waste a supercar of the 458 Italia’s stature.

Then again, at the rate it’s going, we have no idea how many more of these unfortunate incidents are going to happen in the future. For the sake of everybody who has one, let’s all hope that the car’s mortality rate slows down significantly.

Ferrari 458 Italia gets involved in another car crash originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 23 August 2010 10:00 EST.

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Top Speed Cars Car News

It was only about six months ago that 80-year-old Stirling Moss was unfortunate enough to fall down an elevator shaft in his very own home. After recovering quickly from minor injuries, Moss moved forward quickly by purchasing a Porsche RS61 just like the one he raced in the sixties. That little speedster set him back a record $1.7 million, but it was well worth it for Moss as he was set to race it in Monterey this past weekend.

Unfortunately, while Moss was taking a warm-up lap at the the Monterey Motorsports Reunion at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca’s qualifying session, a fellow racer ran into him on his out lap. Stirling was unhurt, but the car, however, suffered considerable damage rendering it undriveable for the rest of the Monterey weekend. As this particular weekend was due to be his only race outing in the RS this year, he will now have to wait until 2011, once it is repaired in the United States, to get back behind the wheel of this classic Porsche race car.

Stirling Moss’ Porsche RS61 crashes at Monterey originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 16 August 2010 20:00 EST.

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Top Speed Cars Car News

Apparently, a 570hp vehicle just isn’t for everyone. Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly who it could be for considering everyone seems to be crashing theirs! Back in May we reported the first crash of a 458 Italia followed by not one, but two more 458 crash stories. Only last week we reported on a Ferrari 458 Italia that smashed into a tree just in front of the Maranello factory. Today it’s time for yet another horror story: a 458 Italia has crashed in Marlow, United Kingdom. Now, seriously, what’s going on with this gorgeous car? How can we get people to stop harming these beauties?

In this case, a woman is to blame for the accident. Well, kind of. Apparently the driver was trying to impress this lady and ended up losing control and hitting the barrier that stops cars from falling onto the carriage way below. The spectacle was completed by the car being spun around.

As a reminder the new Ferrari will rocket from 0 to 60 MPH in just 3.4 seconds and won’t stop until it hits a top speed of 202 MPH, so when you try pushing it to its limits, you better known what you are doing!

Another Ferrari 458 Italia crashed originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 16 August 2010 19:00 EST.

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Top Speed Cars Car News

Unfortunately this is not the first time we are reporting about a crashed Ferrari 458 Italia. But, if we remember correctly, this is the first crash at the sport’s car home, Maranello Italy.

According to the guy who caught the accident, this car was driving through Maranello just a day before the crash. A day later… well it looks like in the video. He says there were no injuries in the accident, but the 458 Italia looks pretty bad, we strongly doubt the owner will bother repairing it. He gave no details on what exactly happened in here, but we’re pretty sure high speed was involved.

Refresher: The Ferrari 458 Italia is powered by a 4.5 Liter V8 engine that delivers 570 HP and sprints the car from 0 to 60 MPH in just 3.4 seconds. Top speed is 202 MPH.

Video: Ferrari 458 Italia meets tree in Maranello originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 13 August 2010 09:33 EST.

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Top Speed Cars Car News

If there’s one thing that we’ve learned, it’s that supercars, no matter how fast or expensive they can be, aren’t immune to car crashes of whatever variety. Recently, we’ve had the unfortunate task of reporting that one of our most beloved supercars, the Ferrari 458 Italia got burned down.

Today, we have another one, and without question, this one is about as gruesome as it gets. According to Wrecked Exotics, this Ferrari 458 Italia was completely burned down to a twisted heap of melted metal after the supercar’s engine caught fire while climbing up a mountain pass in France. No word was said on whether there were any casualties as a result of this 458 Italia getting toasted to a crisp.

Coincidentally, the last burning 458 Italia also occurred in France just last week leading us to question whether those 458s sold in France have some curse on them or something. Either way, it breaks our hearts whenever we see a vehicle with the stature of the new Ferrari supercar getting burned beyond repair.

Another Ferrari 458 Italia gets completely destroyed originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 21 July 2010 17:00 EST.

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Oh no! As sad as it might sound, a brand new Ferrari 458 Italia caught fire in central Paris. After having the vehicle for just a few days, the owner was driving around in his beautiful sports car when he noticed that one of the rear wheel arches had started to burn.

There is no explanation as to how this might have happened, but the fire started in the wheel and then spread rapidly. Fortunately there was a passer-by who happened to have a fire extinguisher on hand (crazy, but true and we are thankful for that) and he was able to extinguish the fire.

Just so you can recap on exactly what type of vehicle just caught on flames, the 458 Italia is powered by a 4.5 Liter V8 engine equipped with the traditional Ferrari flat crankshaft that gives the mid-engine sports cars their signature top end bark. The unit produces 570 HP at a rather high 9000 RPM which gives the future super car a power output of 127 HP/Liter. Weighing in at only 3042 pounds, the new Ferrari will rocket from 0 to 60 MPH in just 3.4 seconds and won’t stop until it hits a top speed of 202 MPH.

What’s up with cars catching fire lately? Remember the Lamborghini Murcielago that caught fire in the Netherlands? Or how about the BMW 1-Series being delayed due to a potential fire risk? We think it’s time to share some thoughts on this. Leave your comments below if you think you know what the heck is going on.

Ferrari 458 Italia caught fire in Paris originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 16 July 2010 14:00 EST.

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Rahul Patel bares the distinction as one of the few men in the US to strike gold in the lottery. This time last year – June 29,2009, to be exact – Patel parlayed a $1 Powerball lottery ticket into $25 million and with his new-found wealth, proceeded to purchase himself a nice, spanking new Audi R8 about a week ago.

According to a number of reports, Patel was in the northbound side of Merritt Parkway somewhere between exits 46 and 47 when the R8’s engine inexplicably began smoking, causing the lottery winner to pull over on the shoulder to check up on his new toy. As soon as he stopped to check, flames suddenly burst out of the Audi R8’s engine as Patel haplessly watched his new Audi supercar be barbecued by the ensuing fire. The result, as you can imagine, was a complete loss with Patel left wondering if his luck had finally ran out.

We feel bad for him for losing such a beautiful car after only purchasing it a week earlier, but on the other hand, it’s hard to empathize with the dude because he can probably afford a few more of these R8’s with the money he scooped up a year ago. That is, unless, he hasn’t burned through the winnings too.

Lottery winner’s week-old Audi R8 burns down on the highway originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:00 EST.

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The first running of the Goodwood Moving Motor Show was the scene of a horrifying car accident that occurred when a spectator sitting inside a running Honda Civic Mugen R accidentally stepped on the gas pedal, causing the car to plow straight into two pedestrians and two parked Jaguars, the oldest surviving Jaguar E-Type and a new Jaguar XKR.

Not exactly the kind of start it was hoping for.

Details are still limited, but witnesses present during the entire incident suggested that the driver of the Civic Mugen R was sitting cozy on the driver’s seat of the car before mistakenly revving up the running car and sending careening across the main pedestrian hallway and straight into the Jaguar booth before crashing into the back wall on the other side of the pavilion.

It took a while for the scene to be cleared up but in the end, the show eventually reopened to the public except for one event: the much hyped ‘Ride and Drive’.

Incidents like this could have been avoided if people just exercised a little sense of caution. But since it already happened, the most important thing is that while a number of people were hurt, it doesn’t appear to be too serious to have caused any serious injuries.

Runaway Honda Civic Mugen R crashes in the Goodwood Moving Motor Show originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 5 July 2010 16:00 EST.

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To everyone who still insists on using their cell phone while their driving, this piece of wasted Italian machinery is proof that nothing good ever comes out of it.

The worst part is, the driver of that Ferrari 360 Spider wasn’t even the one at fault. Nope, the offending party, as it turns out, was a young woman who was too busy talking on her phone that she didn’t see that her car was closing in on the rear end of the 360 Spider.

As you can plainly see, the result speaks for itself. The 360 Spider’s rear end was significantly damaged and we can’t even comprehend how much it would cost to get that Prancing Horse, that was at the wrong place and at the wrong time, up and running again.

One thing’s for sure, though - and it’s been abundantly clear since handheld devices like cell phones were invented - when you’re out on the road, please don’t do anything that can result in a crash like this. Fortunately, both the young lady and the driver of the 360 Spider escaped without injury. It’s already bad enough that a beautiful - and expensive - car like this gets ruined because of reckless driving, but it could’ve been worse. Much, much worse.

Ferrari 360 Spider gets rear-ended by reckless driver originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 30 June 2010 11:07 EST.

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Either the universe is expediting the demise of Mercury or somebody just got a case of massive panic, although this dealership accident may prove that both scenarios were working hand-in-hand.

Whatever the case may be, a couple looking to make a Ford F-150 pick-up truck purchase were about to test drive a unit when things took a (reverse) turn for the worse. Thinking that he was all set to go, the driver mistakenly put the pick-up in reverse only to realize what he had done a second too late. In his panic, the driver accidentally pushed the gas pedal, causing the truck to drive straight into not just one, but two Mercury Milan sedans that were parked in front of the F-150.

Emergency crews were quick on the scene to help the shell-shocked couple out of the truck where, fortunately, both came out unscathed. According to KABC, all three vehicles were heavily damaged as a result of the accident, although there’s no word on whether the couple who made the trip to the dealership to test out the F-150 would have to pay for the two Milan sedans they accidentally wrecked as a result of the mishap. We’re not ones for letting incidences like this go without so much as a fine, but considering that these are Mercurys - who really buys them these days? - we’d let this one pass. Besides, the driver didn’t mean to do it so we’ll chalk this one up to the universe accelerating the inevitability of Mercury’s demise.

Couple test-driving a Ford F-150 accidentally crushes into Mercury Milan sedans originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 29 June 2010 22:00 EST.

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How’s this for a major fire bummer. A beautiful Lamborghini Murcielago was spotted in Brooklyn, New York earlier today, but, unfortunately, this exotic beauty had nothing beautiful about it. That is, unless, you find burning exotic cars beautiful.

There are a number of speculations going around from witnesses at the scene as to how the Lamborghini ended up being toasted. One of them being that the crisped Murcielago was stolen by two men who eventually decided that stealing a $350,000 supercar wasn’t fun enough. Apparently, the two men upped the ante by lighting it on fire. Another witness, however, said that the supercar just caught fire inexplicably, which wouldn’t be too far out of the realm of the imagination considering that these cars have been prone to catch fire on occasion.

We don’t know which story carries more weight and, quite frankly, we don’t really care how the Lamborghini Murcielago burned down, only that it did. And that in itself is enough to dampen our spirits.

Lamborghini Murcielago burns down in Brooklyn originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 23 June 2010 21:00 EST.

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Today is a black day for Toyota! A Lexus LF-a Nurburgring Edition test drive ended up in tragedy. The supercar crashed a few kilometers from the Nurburgring test track, killing the driver. While previous rumors did not reveal the identity of the driver, they did report that it was a 67 year-old man. Now a German magazine reports that the driver was indeed Hiromu Naruse, Toyota’s chief test driver.

The other car involved in the accident was a BMW 3-Series sedan. Both the driver and the passengers are in serious condition at the hospital.

The first details of the accident stated that Naruse was taking the turn at a high rate of speed and crossed into the opposing lane, but the police are still investigating.

As a fatal premonition, Naruse said on May 26: "When we raced the LFA in Nardo, Italy, I thought I might not return to Japan alive. The purpose of this ‘test’ was to evaluate the car’s durability at 200 mph for a long period. The race was in the dark with no lights on the track, plus there were birds flying at me – and imagine if a tire burst! We created the final LFA through these kinds of test experiences."

Our thoughts are with the friends and families of the people involved in this terrible tragedy.

Video after the jump.

Toyota chief test driver dies in LF-A Nurburgring Edition crash originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 23 June 2010 15:30 EST.

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It’s unfortunate and crazy and it didn’t take too long, did it? The first Mercedes SLS AMG has recently been involved in a pretty serious crash. While there are not many details on the crash, it is known that the sports car had an unfortunate encounter with a Lada 112 ’fastback’ somewhere in Moscow, Russia. It seems that a black Nissan Murano crossover was also involved in the same crash.

The video of the scene revealed that the SLS AMG involved in the crash was a press / demo car used in many photo shoots and videos in Russia.

Most likely the rain and high speeds were the main factors of the accident - as they typically are - because the SLS AMG looks pretty damaged!

In any case, here’s a video of the aftermath of the crash for you to watch. We don’t blame you for cringing and crying watching these because we came very close to doing both ourselves. And if you think the crashed Mercedes SLS AMG is scary, wait until you hear the voices in the video. Watch the video after the jump to hear what we mean!

Oh No!: First documented crash of the Mercedes SLS AMG Gullwing happens in Russia originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 17 June 2010 11:00 EST.

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