Bugatti Veyron DOWN!
 

Galveston Daily News Web site

LA MARQUE — The owner of one of the world’s fastest production automobiles accidentally drove his fine-tuned, French-built car into a saltwater lagoon Wednesday.

The man, who police said was from Lufkin, was uninjured after escaping the partially submerged Bugatti Veyron as it came to rest in about 2 feet of saltwater.

The two-seater, with 16 cylinders and four turbo chargers, can reach speeds of more than 250 mph. New models sell for about $2 million.

The man, who refused to give his name, was looking at real estate in Galveston.

About 3 p.m. a low-flying pelican distracted him as he traveled north on Interstate 45 just south of the hurricane levee near Omega Bay.

The man jerked the wheel, dropped his cell phone, and the car’s front tire left the frontage road and entered a muddy patch, which foiled his attempt to maneuver away from the lagoon.

The Veyron’s powerful engine gurgled like an outboard motor for about 15 minutes before it died.

Police and firefighters blocked the frontage road until MCH Towing employee Gilbert Harrison carefully wenched the car away from riprap and onto the soft, muddy bank.

It’s the rarest car in the world, not something you can just replace, the man said.

An Associated Press story in October mentioned a 2006 model Veyron for sale in Jonesboro, Ark., with an asking price of $1.25 million.

One of the prospective buyers was from Texas.

That Bugatti Veyron was one of only 200 made and one of only about 15 in the United States, the AP reported.

This story was brought to you thanks to khou.com's partnership with The Galveston County Daily News.

Not smart enough to turn the car off once it is 2 feet deep in water?

I hope it is "family money".

pics

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/12/v...dro/#continued

Awesome!

Looks like it doesn't require driving abilities to buy one.

Rich and stupid always has some self-leveling effect.

So he claims.

Just dayum. :wtfru:

Especially considering it caused him to drop his cell phone. Fucker can afford a $1million+ car, but can't afford a bluetooth headset?

Because you look more important when you're holding a phone up to your ear... :td:

like this one?
http://www.robthurman.com/weblog/arc...cell-phone.jpg

This is the stupidest thing in the whole article. 15 minutes?

btw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcom8...layer_embedded

:lol: He'd probably be driving a 300C with the Bentley grill.

How old is he? People above a certain age can't be bothered with figuring out how to use bluetooth.

Low flying pelican... riiigggghhhtttt..

It's things like this that make me smile, that even no matter how much more someone else "has" than me, they'll still find a way to fuck it up.

I hate to defend the guy, ruining a car like that, but I did something very similar a few years ago.

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...87260_6263.jpg

yeh that be ma and no I didnt ruin the 25k van

Defend what? What kinda assbag douche talks on his phone while driving a 2mil car that's supposed to be the fastest in the world?

If you ask me, he had that coming.

Yeah something doesn't seem right with that story if you look at the road from the video. There seems like plenty of room to spin out on a straight road. I could see if it was a curve and he went straight off. Unless I am missing something I can't see his story being anywhere close to the truth.

James

Yeah but yours water hole is in the road and I'm sure you seen it and wanted to attempt it. Looking at that video that guy had to do some fucked up shit to end up at that angle and in that far.

James

Dumbass.

Notice that they couldn't even get the rear wheels unlocked to winch it back out of the mud... dude fucked it up good. Wonder if they'll end up flying it back to France to repair it?

We did a small job for a guy that would drive around with large over the ear headphones on all the time. Most of the time he showed up to the site he had a flip phone tucked under one of the ear cups, talking on the phone. Damn it looked stupid. Drove me nuts.

James

wait...for 1million+ you're telling me that these things don't come with a snorkel for the intake?:scratch:

go figure


:lol

I don't think age matters. There are young people that don't know or don't want to use bluetooth as well. I see some old people using new tech.

BTW I was just thinking about the bluetooth. Some people still look at the phone to see who is calling or to make a call, even with bluetooth. So he could have dropped the phone even if he had a bluetooth set on.

James

Hrm.. my mom lives near Lufkin... I wonder who this guy was to be driving one.
It's not exactly a 'rich people' town. :lol:

Are those GOV plates I see?

old oil money would be my guess

from local import BB, guy has austin as his residence

tool :wtfru:

First the Enzo and now the Bugatti?

Maybe he should stick to cars under a million bucks. :idk:

gettin kinda conflicting stories unless dude's a lawyer who owns a lumber yard in lufkin and does cars on the side

"That's bullcock!! The owner is not a broker... He owns a lumber yard in Lufkin


Quote:
Originally Posted by hndaklr
I saw this car 2 weeks ago when the guy bought it. He owns a lumber mill just down the street from where I work and he had it on display for a day in front of his company. Pretty sad, but it seems the more an idiot spends on a car, the faster it get's destroyed. Here is the news paper article "

----------------------------------------------------

hmmm

http://www.lufkindailynews.com/hp/co...4/bugatti.html

Police release name of Lufkin man who drove million-dollar sports car into lagoon


Click-2-Listen
By JESSICA COOLEY
The Lufkin Daily News

Friday, November 13, 2009

La Marque police have released name of the Lufkin man who drove a million-dollar car into a saltwater lagoon, blaming a low flying pelican for the distraction.

Andy House was driving along an I-45 feeder when he lost control of the 2006 Bugatti Veyron EB, according to police records. The car, which tops out at 253 mph, is believed to be one of only 15 in the United States. He purchased the French-made car, carrying a $1.25 million price tag, from a Jonesboro, Ark., dealer last month, according to previous reports.

House owns Performance Auto Sales in Lufkin. Attempts to contact House on Thursday and Friday morning were unsuccessful

By anonymous man

Nov 13, 2009 9:19 AM | Link to this

Yeah, and I also heard from a good friend of the owner that he he had it insured for 2 Million dollars. This guy builds
cars like this that he gets from salvage. I know this one
was almost new, but I also know of this guy and know of his
past and I sure wouldnt want to be the one to insure a car
worth more than a million dollars for him. He is not exactly know for being a reputable business man either. I also heard
that he was kinda in a crunch for money with the economy
like it is lately. Now you know, "the rest of the story"...
so go figure....

http://performanceautoworld.com/

nice cars but not bugatti class.

Hm, he has a shop that buys totaled exotics and flips them for a profit... and he just wrecked an exotic... Hmmm indeed. He must think his insurance company is pretty stupid.

This one must be his too

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...hment-1161.jpg

Nah, that one was trying to duplicate the scene from.. umm.. was it Cannonball Run? The one where they skip the Countach across a low water crossing.

Idiot probably did it deliberately

Oh and that picture with him and the Mustang? At that house? Wow, most mismatched pic ever :lol:

Even though the mustang will probably beat it in the 1/4 mile.

So this clown only sells salvage high end cars? Who the fuck would buy a high end car that could potentially have tons of problems? They can't be cheap to fix.

speed zone i think

D'oh!

Damn. Thats going to leave a mark.

What a dumb ass. If your going to lie about something like that, pick something that is a little more common. Maybe a Vette or Viper.

James

Somebody happened to be filming the bugati from an adjacent road, during the crash!

http://jalopnik.com/5404403/exclusiv...nto-texas-lake

Awesome.

So why should we trust this guy, compared to all the other random posters on that board?

Its the internet. Read it. Believe it.

James

Proves his story is full of shit. You can sit down for a shit and not and not have someone get a picture or video. LOL

James

.....

The story makes sense based on the conflicting stories earlier.

That'll buff right out...maybe a little Febreze.

I am surprised that except for the front grille, there isn't really any noticeable damage to the bodywork, molding or diffusers.

dang how many are there of these in TX

from local forum thread about crashed bugatti

right down the street from my parents house

Couple years ago, they were testing three of them at high altitude when I was going up the Mount Evans road in Colorado. http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/2271/img0091am3.jpg

Saw the youtube video of the crash. I'd link the working link but I can't figure out how to copy and past on my GF's I-Mac because when I hit control C it makes shit smaller.

I wouldn't handle that car if I was a towing company.

That dark blue one needs to be buffed bad. Thats sad for a car worth that much.

James

As much as I love to see shiny cars - I love to see them being used as CARS first...

I like to see shiny cars used.

James

Ha ha that's the first thing I noticed too. Plus look at the idiot putting his laptop on top of it. :td: And the other idiot leaning on the rear wing. I am assuming these were magazine journalists? What a bunch of amateurs. They're lucky Bugatti even let them drive it. They don't need magazine publicity in order to sell those cars.

Yeah he should be kicked in the nuts for placing the laptop on the roof. And I also don't like the guy using the wing to hold his lazy ass up.

James

The dude with the lap top might work for Bugatti and those cars are probably strictly for testing/instruction/etc and the company doesn't give a crap how crappy the car looks.

I'm sure the people in the industry are jaded by crap like this and doesn't think much about it.

That could become a bad habit. A laptop should not be placed on a car. A mechanic put a wrench on the roof of my car years ago. Damn I was pissed.

These cars are being tested on the road. They should always look their best.

James

I dunno, I doubt Bugatti factory guys would bother taking cars to Colorado to test, they could do that shit in the Alps.

If they are truly being tested, your statement is an oxymoron. There will be times the vehicle doesn't look it's best.

Though, now with Permagard available to the public... shiny is more possible.

Trust me. I saved a old pick up truck from needing a new paint job and a year later it still looked better then that Veyron.

The hand smudges of the lazy drivers over the top of the door are one thing. And dirt and grime from the roads is going to happen. That paint can look much better and still be used every day.

James

Don't development mules usually go to the DOT for crash testing? I doubt they're too worried about scratches :lol:

Then why paint it? They can't do anything about the cars they sell. If a customer (or someone pretending to be one) wants to make the car a submarine, they can't do much about that. But they have control over there own cars.

As you can see by the Bugatti making a splash, there are cameras and video cameras everywhere. If they have their car on the streets it should look its best. The paint should be free of swirls, spider webbing and scratches as much as possible. They will get dirt on them (the silver one has dust/dirt on the window) from the drive. That happens when you drive. But can tell the between a detailed car getting dirty or a car needing some tlc getting dirty.

James

James, might I recommend you never go to a track where cars supercars are running - your head will explode.

Dude they drive those things across the desert, through the arctic, down dirt roads, and generally beat the everloving shit out of them in every way they can. I seriously doubt they're going to take half the day every day they're driving it to detail it "in case someone shows up with a camera" when they've got dev work to do.

http://media.nextautos.com/wp-conten...sert-runni.jpg

srsly. LOL.

Race cars don't bother me.

Super cars doing a track day? It would bother me if it looked like the dark blue one. I'm not saying it needs to look perfect, a car that sees a lot of track time (or even highway for that matter) will have problems with the paint on the front bumper and hood because of rock chips. You can also have fine dirt almost sand blast the front of the car. Doesn't mean the car still can't look good.

I don't even like seeing econo cars looking like that Bugatti. :tremble:

And we are not talking about a $10000 car. Image is everything when you have a price tag as large as that. They are in the business of selling cars, make it look as good as it works.

James

They don't need to detail the car everyday. In most cases I'm sure they wash it every now and then. Having it detailed and then washed properly is all it takes.

And in case some people don't know what I'm talking about here it is.

Look at the suns reflection on this paint. The last time I looked at the sun it didn't have all of those legs/arms coming off of it. You should see the sun in that paint not on it.

James

No Worries said the pic was taken "a couple years ago".........That car has been on the road a lot longer than that. So I doubt they were development mules. They were probably privately owned, or being tested by a magazine, and the 2 guys in Bugatti shirts were just there for technical support or public relations. So polish that shit.

Mount Evans road is paved over 14,000 feet, but it's closed until spring. By the way, doesn't Volkswagen own Bugatti?
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8681/img0794rg2.jpg

Yup, your head would absolutely explode :lol: I've seen many cars that make that one look shiny.... Funny thing, I was told if you are worrying about fingerprints and whether it looks perfect ~ "You're doing it wrong". That was from one of our key members that has a current stable with 25+ vehicles at any given time [including an enzo and the three before it]. So, I think I'll take pointers from him because he's clearly doing something right.

Then I will do it wrong. I agree with not worrying about every little mark because if it is used it will get marked some how. But it can still look its best. The cropped photo shows what really caught my eye. That paint should look better.

Here is another example of what I'm looking at on that car. Here is the hood of a BMW that I had to detail at my shop.

James

^ Some tool probably re-used an old pad when they were buffing that car.

Not sure but this guy came in wanting the whole car detailed. He wanted it to look good so he could trade it in. He said if it looks good enough when I was done then he would just keep it. :rockwoot: He did keep it and had it back in to be waxed the next year.

The clouds came out so I didn't get the exact pictures I wanted.

James

hmmmm

And for those keeping score at home, that's about 50% higher than the highest paved road in the Alps :dthumb:

I'm with James... I don't like seeing rare and exquisitely crafted cars treated carelessly :idk: People who have to work for their money value stuff more, I guess.

This was saturday

http://www.troybaker.com/mz/mz80.jpg

http://www.troybaker.com/mz/mz82.jpg



http://www.troybaker.com/mz/mz87.jpg

http://www.troybaker.com/mz/mz77.jpg

Camera died before I got pics of the GT3's on the track mixing it up with the ferrarri

I like the guy leaning on the red Porsche.......Hope he realizes that jeans have rivets in them.

mmmmm

Thats the first thing i thought of

Have you guys seen the video of it happening??

I watched the one posted in this thread.

James

I didn't even know there was one posted. :lol:

:lol: Derf posted it a while back. http://jalopnik.com/5404403/exclusiv...nto-texas-lake

James

dang took this long to get to court........


http://www.inautonews.com/2009-bugat...nsurance-claim

The 2009 crash of a Bugatti Veyron into a Texas lagoon is reported to have been an alleged case of insurance fraud, as a federal judge decided the complaint should go before a jury.
Recorded on an amateur video that was viewed nearly 2.6 million times on YouTube, the crash is being challenged by Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company, which provided $2 million in collector-car insurance for the Veyron.

The company claims that the owner of the supercar, Andy House of Lufkin, Texas, intentionally drove the car into the lagoon to destroy it and get a big insurance payoff. The 2010 federal complaint also names one Lloyd Gillespie, who reportedly gave House a $1 million interest-free loan to buy the Bugatti. Philadelphia Indemnity claims House and Gillespie conspired to defraud the company in order to double the $1 million investment.

The company also says that its investigation uncovered a confidential informant who said that before the lagoon crash, House offered to pay him to steal the car and burn it in order to collect the insurance money.

“However, apparently Mr. House instead drove the car into the lagoon without the confidential informant’s assistance,” the complaint reads. “The confidential informant indicated that he believed Mr. House and Mr. Gillespie acted in coordination in this matter,” Philadelphia Indemnity added.

I hope he gets nailed.

This.

If someone can buy one of those for only $1M, then why is the insurance company covering it for $2M?

Because collector and exotic vehicles can be insured for a set value, rather than an "actual replacement" value, since they can't always be replaced.

He could insure that car for whatever he wants. The amount of coverage changes the premium that he pays.

Yeah - I doubt he had basic comprehensive on it :lol:

I'm sorry sir, but your claim has been denied.

You do not have coverage for uninsured pelican.

JC

Maybe I should have said CARPrehensive...

Maybe not....

:lol:

JC

That joke flounder a bit?

Still dragging on...

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoram...3Rpb25z;_ylv=3