Panic: Mechanic crashes Lambo
2012-11-21 11:05
ROUTINE TEST RUN GONE WRONG: Above shows the some of the damage done to the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 during Andrew Mitchinson disastrous test drive
LONDON, England - Sometimes you can do something perfectly 1000 times but during the repetition 1001 disaster can strike.
Andrew Mitchinson has test driven thousands of vehicles during his 20-year stint for the UK Ministry of Transport (MoT) annual testing. It's understandable that his first crash would leave him "gutted" - he did, after all, damage a R3.1m Lamborghini Murcielago LP640...
According to the DailyMail, the supercar was booked into Mitchinson's father Alan's Station Garage in Cumbria, north-west England. Mitchinson said he wanted to test the brakes when the crash occurred.
'IT WAS UNREAL'
He claimed he was traveling at 40-50km/h when he clipped a kerb, spun and crashed into a parked Ford Focus.
Mitchinson said: "I was in second gear just going up the road to try the brakes. I don’t honestly know what happened. I wouldn’t have been doing more than 40-50km/h - if that. It was unreal. I was gutted because I knew it was an expensive car."
The damaged car belongs to millionaire businessman Stephen Leahy who says the accident has lowered the vehicle's resale value.
The limited edition LP640, of which only 20 models were made, is powered by a 6.5 petrol V12 capable of 477kW at 8000rpm and can sprint to 100km/h in 3.5 seconds.
Mitchinson put the damage at around R282 000 and said he believed the car was worth around R1.3m on the open market.
DETAILS ON WINDSCREEN
Father Alan said: "It's the first time he had an accident in a customer’s car and he’s been here 20 years. He has driven thousands, from Ferraris to Aston Martins.
"With the Lamborghini being a four-wheel drive, it has to be road tested to test the efficiency of the brakes. You can’t put it through the rolling road brake-tester here because it would damage it."
A police spokesperson said the incident was reported to them on November 6, 2012 by the owner of the Ford Focus, who found the garage’s insurance details on its windscreen.
