Czech Booked

Well not yet but it is possibly going to happen.

And what an aptly named Czech he is.

Radim PASSER.

Because he does some very high-speed passing in this video he made:

The passing bits do look quite spectacular.  Depending on your sources, he is the third richest person in the Czech Republic or the 33rd richest Czech.  It is quite possible to be both.

Not sure of the voice-over - I'd have gone with someone more upbeat sounding - less 1970s schools broadcasting.

Anyway, he owns a Bugatti Veyron and a Bugatti Chiron.

When would you drive the Veyron if you owned a Chiron?  Sell it.

This video shows him hitting 414kph on a German Autobahn - a feat that Radim keeps telling us was safe and legal.  He got Bugatti to check out the car and God to sort out the traffic and weather conditions.

It seems that the German Traffic authorities are not too happy though and are filing papers to prosecute him.  CarBuzz have this story (which I'd rather link to than The Sun who supposedly also have it) There is a potential for two years jailtime.

CarBuzz claim, "it's very likely the authorities want to make an example out of the Czech millionaire. While his behavior may be frowned upon in select social circles, it was still an unrestricted stretch of road. It will be interesting to see whether German prosecutors will successfully bring charges against the businessman and whether this may signal the end of the unrestricted Autobahn."

They say they hope not.  They don't say whether that's the bit about prosecuting Passer or the bit about ending derestricted roads.

It may well be both.

It was a very dangerous thing to do.  In his prayer at the end of the video Passer thanks God that they "didn't endanger themselves or anybody else on the road"

Except they DID endanger themselves and everybody else on the road - if you play Russian Roulette and don't kill yourself it doesn't mean you weren't endangered.

They were lucky.

They made an excellent video.

But I'm not convinced they were safe.

And I'm not convinced they were legal.

But I'm also not convinced that he will end up in the Slammer.

I think there will be a cheque though.

Dazzling

My Easter treat this year, apart from a large Yorkie Easter Egg, was discovering I could get at the Car+Driver website again.

It is just a bit less than a year since I reported losing access to one of my favourite car sites - but now it's back!  I wonder if they suffered any advertising drop through reduced world-wide clicks?

I now have access to this story for example which shows the result of a 40mph crash-test on a Honda HR-V:

Not to be confused with their model for middle-aged women, the HR-T.

 

Sobering, isn't it?

 

Anyway, I now have no need to visit the Google-Translated version of the Spanish language Car+Driver site.

 

However, if I didn't go there, I may have missed this story about a German Porsche Panamera owner told to repaint his car:

The Police have responded to complaints from other motorists that they are being dazzled when out driving in the sunlight.  He is looking to contest this decision in the courts.

 

It is true, as mentioned in the article, that other people have gold supercars such as this one:

But they are probably all in Dubai - where everyone is used to the glint of gold all the time.

For Richer, For Poorer

There were a couple of interesting Autocar articles published this week that I quite enjoyed until I read a comment that made me feel quite cold.

The first one was this one.

It is a story about a company called "Flying Spares", based near Nuneaton which basically recycles discarded Bentleys and Rolls Royces to supply spares all around the World.  Most of the business is shipping new or remanufactured spares but they do also source many off the vehicles that they have there too.

Not sure what that 66 plate Bentayga is doing there though. I wonder if they will actually cater for newer Bentleys given that they are now part of VAG so will have a completely different set of spares to Rollers.

 

I know I love wandering about a scrapyard - that particular one (not that they call it a scrapyard) would be particularly fascinating.

 

The company was started out of a Portakabin by Ben Handford and his wife, Lucy and is now turning over close to £10 million per year.

 

Another entrepreneur who started small (in a barn in fact) is Tim Earnshaw, who owns Windrush Car Storage which is what the other article is about.  It is a storage facility for luxury cars and a Metro.

 

The article begins, "They call it ‘the Batcave’ because of the amazing cars it contains, and because you could be standing within two feet of it and not know it was there.

 

I can’t tell you precisely where it is except that it’s in an underground car park in central London, shielded from view by thick walls."

It seems to be under the Westfield Shopping Centre.

It costs £480 a month to store your car there and it will get cosseted including regular running.  I hope they aren't charging the Metro owner that - it will be costing more than the car is worth just to store it.  They do have a cheaper facility in the Cotswolds where they charge £270 a month.  It would be worth driving from London to there just for the savings - but then again, money is not going to be an issue for the people using this service.

Could that be a Bugatti Veyron under that sheet perhaps?

Then I read the comments at the bottom of the story.

Someone using the name voyager12 said "The city where cars are better looked after than people."

Now I love cars.  That's why I was finding it so interesting reading these articles.  The first article is fine - it is about helping people - enthusiasts - to keep old luxury cars on the road at a budget to be enjoyed.  The second article though is about helping obscenely rich people store luxury cars that will very rarely be driven.

The location is nice and handy for Kensington.

Kensington where there are many luxury properties laying empty while their rich, usually foreign, owners are abroad somewhere for most of the year.

Kensington where, at the latest count, 79 people died in the Grenfell Tower fire.  They were there because they were poor - because that was the best social housing that could be found for them.  If it is true that the block was covered in dangerous cladding because it was more attractive to look at then someone needs to go to prison for a very long time.  But if it is true, we know they won't.

Now don't get me wrong, I've no problem with Tim.  He has found an excellent way of bringing some foreign money into our country while he provides a unique and useful service.  It's just a shame that (and I know I'm making a big assumption here) I suspect that most of his client base will think more about their cars than about people.

The Most Expensive Veyron Ever?

So why am I showing you a 2012 video of a Corvette?

Because this Corvette is (or probably "was" very soon) owned by Andy Lee House of Lufkin, Texas.  He seems to have a habit of making fast cars go fast, as can be seen in this 2006 video of him driving the most expensive Veyron ever - be aware there is swearing on this vid:

He claimed to have tried to avoid a pelican causing him to crash his $1million car into a swamp just after he had insured it for $2.2million.

I recall reading this story several years back and thinking it sounded fishy then.  Literally fishy.

Now then, no pelican on the video together with other evidence gleaned by investigators (as opposed to alligators) watching the clip showed that he had been telling porkies in 2006 so no payout.  And now, since it has come to trial, this Veyron could also have cost him up to 20 years in the clink.  Fox have the story here and The Mail, who always love an expensive car crash, have it in much more detail, here.

And what price freedom?

Here's a photo of the car being recovered from its swim:

Something to consider next time you approach a pelican crossing.

Why My Car Is Like A Bugatti Veyron

 

See the similarities?  Actually that isn't my car, it's one the same that I found after doing a quick Google Images search.

 

So what could these two cars possibly have in common?

 

Well, they both cost their manufacturers two-and-a-half billion Australian dollars.

 

And if you're wondering why I'm quoting that figure in Australian dollars, it is because the information is sourced from this story in Caradvice.com.au.

 

It lists Europe’s Top 10 Loss-making Vehicles thus:

 

Model                       Years               Estimated Total Loss
Smart Fortwo         1997-2006           $5.0billion

Fiat Stilo                2001-2009           $3.0b

VW Phaeton          2001-2012           $2.9b

Peugeot 1007         2004-2009           $2.8b

Mercedes A-Class 1997-2004           $2.5b

Bugatti Veyron      2005-2013           $2.5b

Jaguar X-Type       2001-2009           $2.5b

Renault Laguna      2006-2012           $2.2b

Audi A2                  2000-2005          $1.9b

Renault Vel Satis    2001-2009          $1.7b

The list is, perhaps surprisingly, topped by the Smart car.  There are a few other quirky cars in there too, the Peugeot 1007 with its sliding doors that nobody wanted and the tiny aluminium A2 that was expensive to build.

There was also the original Merc A-Class seen here failing the Elk Test - maybe it wouldn't have been on the list if it wasn't for that embarrassment so early in its life.

I always liked the Vel-Satis but not many people were tempted to pay big money for a strange-looking luxury Renault so it was doomed from the start.

I am quite surprised that it had an 8-year lifespan.

The article also breaks down how much each manufacturer lost per example of these cars sold:

Model                     Years                    Estimated Loss Per Vehicle (rounded up/down)
Bugatti Veyron      2005-2013                $6,700,500

VW Phaeton          2001-2012                     $40,800

Renault Vel Satis   2001-2009                     $27,200

Peugeot 1007         2004-2009                     $22,300

Audi A2                 2000-2005                     $11,000

Jaguar X-Type       2001-2009                        $6800

Smart Fortwo         1997-2006                        $6500

Renault Laguna      2006-2012                        $5150

Fiat Stilo                 2001-2009                        $4000

Mercedes A-Class   1997-2004                       $2100

The Peugeot figure is quite shocking because $22300 = £12875 (€15400,US$20800) at current exchange rates which can't be too different from its selling price.

$6800 works out as £3925 (€4700,US$6350) so maybe I got a bargain when I bought my car.

Probably not as much of a bargain as Tata got when they bought Jaguar/Land Rover off Ford though.