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The F-word in fashion, making millions.
The F-word we’re referring to is “Ferrari”.
Somehow World financial crises and confidence worries have by-passed the Ferrari name.
A new World record for a sale of a car was set last month for this Ferrari 250 GTO built in 1952 for Sir Stirling Moss. It is reported to have been sold for a massive $35 million dollars. That eclipses the previous record that was held by a Bugatti Atlantic (though unsubstantiated).
But this is only a follower of fashion with some remarkable sales of Ferraris reported over the last few months.
A Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa was sold a couple of months ago for $25m., then another 250 GTO (rather common aren’t they?) sold for a price approaching $30m. Apparently around eight classic and collectable Ferraris have sold over the last few weeks for around $135 million. GFC-what GFC?
The new World record holder, an American by the name of Craig McCaw, can seemingly afford it. He was the co-founder of McCaw Cellular that was sold for $US11.5 billion nearly 20 years ago. So the interest on that alone would have probably bought him his car 100 times over.
OK, OK, perhaps the pic we chose for the story doesn’t do justice to $35m. We didn’t cheat, it is an actual picture of the car, but the buyer may prefer the one below? Even so, would you part with that much money for it?
Candid Camera View Of Police Bogged Down
Police are avid users of cameras, but here’s some camera evidence in reverse!
A police car got bogged down in a Sydney sand dune some little while ago, and the driver had some trouble getting extracated, despite plenty of help from the public (and that wouldn’t happen in many places in the World).
But one member of the public had a video camera that recorded the event for posterity and police red faces.
Gotta say though, that though the cops were aware of filming, they took it in good heart- good on ’em!
Airbag Kills Driver In Freak Accident Says Coroner
A UK court has delivered a stunning verdict on the dangers of the airbag, saying that when one was discharged, it split on a broken window, discharged a chemical that killed the driver, who had only slight injuries after the accident.
The Coroner determined that the chemicals in the airbag poisoned the unfortunate driver, Ronald Smith, from S
underland. He was involved in a six car accident in 2010, the airbag was activated, but punctured after the window in his car was smashed during the accident. Whilst Smith survived the accident he died a couple of months later from bronchial pneumonia, with his lungs showing clear signs of infection.
The Coroner blamed the airbag, saying:- “This man died as a result of this incident, and more pointedly, because of the explosion of his airbag”. Apparently when the airbag exploded it emitted a large amount of ‘white powder’. Airbags inflate with a gas created by igniting a chemical called sodium azide, which is extremely toxic, so much so, in fact, that it is apparently comparable in its toxicity to cyanide.
Whilst UK safety authorities acknowledge there could be a danger, they say it is “extremely small”. This is said to be the only recorded case in the UK.
But they also said that the chemical that preceded sodium azide, nitrocellulose, was even more toxic and also highly inflammable!
Modern cars now carry as many as nine airbags – could this mean there are nine toxic danger points? We’ll talk to the Australian car safety agencies and ask for their comments and let you know.
Flashers legal in USA but not here
I’m talking about flashing your headlights as a warning against police activity, OK?
A judge in Florida had to pass judgement in a case where a driver was prosecuted for flashing his lights to oncoming traffic to warn them of a radar trap. He got off, with the judge citing that the defendant was ‘engaging in behaviour protected by the US constitution’.
But don’t think it’s safe to do the same thing in Australia. There is no specific statute that covers the event, but the police can get you on a more general law that says it is an offence ‘to use high beam on an oncoming vehicle less than 200 metres away’ even though he may thank you for it. Instead you’ll get a fine and lose some points in most states in Australia
Level 2, 9 Help Street