Ferrari 458 Italia Roasted Brazilian Style [with Video]

A new set of photos showing a... red-hot Ferrari 458 Italia going up in flames is making the internet rounds today. Even though some websites are reporting that the incident happened in Sao Paulo, Brazil, two months after Ferrari issued the infamous recall on the 458 Italia (see here), we don't have sufficient information to be sure about the date, let alone if this particular example had gone through the mandatory repairs. So until we find out more details, follow the jump to take yet another glance of what a 458 Italia on fire looks like.

Via: Wreckedexotics & Youtube

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VIDEO: Captiva Driver Shows Tow Truck Who’s Boss

Who wouldn't be annoyed to find, upon returning from the shops, that their car has been ticketed, clamped...or even worse...towed. As this hilarious clip proves, Hell hath no fury like a female SUV driver towed. Full video after the jump.

Here's the scoop for those who haven't seen it: a Shanghai woman is having her Chevy Captiva SUV towed, and she isn't happy about it. So she does what any (insane) person would do: gets in her car, starts the engine and drives off...with the tow truck still attached.

In a word, this video is epic. We've seen some ballsy things here at Carscoop, but this has to be one of the ballsiest. It's like Gone in 60 Seconds with a Chevy AWD or Jackass with a little Asian woman. Above all else, it's a defiantly erect middle finger directed at the money grubbing instigators of authoritarian traffic control.

I guess the tow truck driver should be thankful this was the only thing the Captiva driver did. I'd hate to see her behind the wheel of a tank, that's for sure. Watch the video and give us your verdict in the comments.

By Tristan Hankins

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VIDEO: Bugatti Veyron Driver Backs Into Toyota

Yes, we know: this video is almost three months old, which for the Point-and-Click Generation is practically ancient history. We're like your Grandpa, buying you a NWA CD and being all like, "Your Mom says these guys are 'hip'!"

Now to the video. Back around August, a man in the U.S. took a Bugatti Veyron for a test drive and as he was backing out, he bumped into what appears to be a Toyota Corolla (correct us if we are wrong).

Well, we're not 100% sure of all that, but since a) that's when this video was uploaded, b) when was the last time you heard a woman talk about the Veyron outside of Fifth Gear and c) there's a Ford Crown Victoria in the background, we're at least 70% certain (and, uh, 100% sexist). *Ahem*

According to the comments, he also scrapes the Bugatti's chin on the curb as he reverses out and scrapes it again as he drives back in. Riveting, I know. Honestly, this isn't even half as impressive as that video of Bumblebee colliding with that police car we showed you a couple of weeks back. I suppose what makes it of interest to us here (and you out there) is that this is one of the world's fastest, most expensive cars.

Just think about that for a moment. It'll probably cost upwards of US$10,000 to sand down and repaint the Bugatti. We're talking Nissan Versa money, not chump change. And yeah, me too: I'd rather have a damaged piece of Veyron front bumper than a perfectly intact, drivable Versa.

To each his own, I suppose.

By Tristan Hankins

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30-Meter Wide Sinkhole Opens up and Swallows Car in Germany (with Post-Event Video)

Here's some recent global infrastructure news from Thuringia, Germany: a 30-meter wide, 25-meter deep sinkhole recently opened up in an unsuspecting neighborhood to swallow up some property. In this case, the only losses were a car, some road, and a driveway and garage door.

The sinkhole, which is one of the largest ones to form in Thuringia, is suspected to be the result of "a salt column, calcium sulphate or limestone [dissolving]". According to reports, the region averages twenty smaller sinkholes a year.

No one was hurt this time, but people were still evacuated as a precautionary measure in case more dirt started to cave in. By the time you read this, service crews should be at work repairing the road, filling the sinkhole, and ensuring that peoples' homes are still habitable.

By Phil Alex

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Aussie Man Narrowly Escapes Hyundai Flying Into his Bedroom! [+Video]

To say that Demitrios Bisbelis from Melbourne, Australia, is lucky, is an enormous understatement. The 31-year old man escaped almost certain death - or serious injuries at best, when he decided to get out of bed briefly at 2 am to check his computer in another room. A few minutes later, a Hyundai Excel [also know as the Pony] ploughed into his house and onto the bed he was lying on moments ago!

"it was around 2 am in the morning and I heard a massive bang, then I saw a car going through my bedroom," Bisbelis told reporters. "I thought it was an earthquake. My bed was disintegrated. I'm quite lucky to be alive, because I'm normally in bed this time of the night".

Melbourne police said the car hit a median strip on the road and then went airborne ramming through the wooden fence and into the house which is located on Frankston Dandenong Road. The two 52-year-old men who were in the Hyundai were taken to the hospital for minor injuries.

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VIDEO: Twin-Turbo Lamborghini Gallardo goes Airborne at Texas Mile

The Texas Mile had its inaugural event back in October 2003 and since then it has become very popular among performance enthusiasts. There you can drive on a one and a half mile highway section as fast as you can and not be in trouble in the eyes of the law. Oh, and you can set some records. Just what the owner of this twin-turbo Lamborghini Gallardo intended, but things went horribly wrong for him as you can see in the video after the break.

Richard Holt's rocket-on-wheels was built by Underground Racing with the twin-turbocharged V10 rated somewhere between 1,500-1,900 hp (1,119-1,417 kW). More than enough to attempt setting a new standing mile world record.

Eyewitness reports say that the car hit the 1 mile marker with no trouble, immediately deploying its parachute. At that moment it suddenly veered off to the right and, after hitting the grass and a small obstacle, took to the skies going well over 100 mph or 160 km/h.

The reason? Strong crosswinds, it seems. Fortunately, Mr. Holt was able to walk away from this one, the only real victim being the car.

By Csaba Daradics

Source: Autoblog.com & Autoblog.nl

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225 lb Mother Killed in Crash, Peugeot Admits Not Crash Testing for Heavier Drivers

On the 20th of January, 2009, 56-year-old mother-of-three Judith Evans was killed when her Peugeot 107 hit a Vauxhall Vectra in a head-on collision in Buckinghamshire, UK. The matter recently went to court where it was heard that the victim sustained multiple fractures and chest and abdominal injuries which the Thames Valley Police noticed were unusually severe given the force of impact.

Experts from Peugeot and Vehicle Safety Consultancy Ltd believe that the 107 should have provided good protection for this sort of crash, and yet this was not the case. Why?

Evans' Peugeot 107 met all EuroNCAP safety standards, with the 107 and it's Citroen C1 and Toyota Aygo siblings having scored four stars in a 2005 test. It was fitted with front seatbelt pre-tensioners and load limiters along with front and side body airbags for both driver and passenger.

The investigation suggests it may have to do with weight. Not the weight of the Vectra compared to the 107, as Peugeot has suggested, but the weight of the 107's driver.

You see, Mrs Evans weighed close to 16 stone (102 kg / 225 U.S. lbs). Meanwhile Peugeot, following European regulations, never tested the 107 with a dummy weighing more than 12 stone 14 lbs (78 kg / 172 U.S. lbs). As such, the safety features built into the 107 weren't calibrated for a heavier occupant.

The Evans's family lawyer, asked Peugeot safety expert Richard Zeitouni: "Have you tested with any dummies more than 78kg?" Mr Zeitouni, replied that Peugeot had not.

Mr Horner then asked: "So you have not tested with a weight of dummy that corresponds to 50% of the male population?"

Mr Zeitouni answered: "When we designed this car we found it was good, adequate protection for the majority of occupants. It's an official dummy, a regulation dummy."

Peter Gloyns, a mechanical engineer from Vehicle Safety Consultancy (VSC) Ltd made this comment:

"The accident raises a serious question over the stability of the response of the total restraint system for an occupant of this build and weight in an accident of this severity in which it would be hoped that good protection could be offered."

The driver of the Vectra sustained fractures in her kneecap and internal bruising, but was otherwise unharmed in the crash.

A spokesperson from Peugeot told UK daily 'The Independent' that the company had no comment to make at this stage.

We'll have more on this case as we get it.

By Tristan Hankins

Source: Independent

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VIDEO: Chinese Biker Survives Accident thanks to some Crazy Kung Fu-Like Moves

Talk about lucky; here's a video of a Chinese motorcyclists who seemed to have all the right moves when he slammed into a little carry-all truck. As you can see from the clip after the jump, he was either extremely skilled or extremely lucky to be thrown off his ride the way he was.

If this accident weren't captured on CCTV, it would be the kind of stunt I'd expect to see in some 90's Jackie Chan movie. In that case, however, there would be people swarming the guy and dude would be using the formerly-known-as-a-motorcycle debris to whoop evildoers' behinds instead of probably being in shock. Hey, at least one or two of the surrounding drivers stopped to lend a hand.

Any (I'm guessing) Mandarin speakers out there, feel free to throw us a translation of the text in the comments below.

By Phil Alex

Via: Gizmodo / Jalopnik

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Lambo Fought the Lights and the Lights Won

Pop quiz, hot shot: what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? Answer: This.

The irresistible force: a silver-colored Lamborghini Gallardo tearing down the strip. The immovable object: a traffic light pole in Laval, Quebec. The result: well, you can see for yourself.

We don't much about physics, but we know that a) energy is never created nor destroyed, merely transformed and b) expensive supercar / wet road + stationary object = gold photo opportunity.

Our guess is that the Lamborghini will need a new front bumper, and given how much parts and service on those things cost, it might be cheaper to buy a new Chevy Malibu.

So here's a Top Tip; If you are driving a quarter of a million dollar supercar down a wet road and the lights turn yellow, apply brake pressure slowly and evenly. Otherwise you may skid, and in a 500+ horsepower supercar on a wet road, things like traction control won't do diddly-squat...

By Tristan Hankins

Source: Montrealracing

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We're Goin' Surfin': Rental Corvette Abandoned in Pacific Ocean [With Videos]

Some presumably drunk people out California way decided to have a little bit too much fun in their recently-rented Corvette and ended up parked in salt water halfway up the car's doors. Thankfully in this day and age everyone has some sort of video recording device within arm's reach, so we have some post-parking-surfing videos below.

The story goes something like this: between two and four people - who may or may not have been racing - decided to roll on down to the end of Law Street (seriously) and take the normally pavement-pounding Corvette out to play in the sand. Once actually on the beach, the driver proceeded to do a few donuts, calmly drive the car into the water, and flee the scene.

The report indicates that some people who were involved have been detained, and that at least some of the expenses involved in pulling the car out of the sand could be recouped. All I can say for certain is that puling a car out of wet sand and water must have been hard as hell due to the suction; I learned that lesson when my friend took his Grand Marquis four-wheeling and the night ended...let's say poorly.

By Phil Alex

Source: CBS8

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Bumblebee Camaro Crashes into Real Cop Car During Filming of Transformers 3

BUMBLEBEE is racing down a side street to catch up with the other AUTOBOTS, who have found another piece of the ALLSPARK. Suddenly, a DECEPTICON POLICE SUV appears and cuts BUMBLBEE off!

Well, not really, but it sure looks like that in this video. According to The Washington Post, the story goes that a Metropolitan Police SUV was on its way to investigate a suspicious package in the D.C. area when it strayed onto the Transformers 3 set.

Just at that moment, a yellow Chevrolet Camaro a.k.a. "Bumblebee" rounded a corner and slammed into the right side of the police vehicle in the sort of scene you previously would only have seen in a Michael Bay movie.

District Police spokeswoman Tisha Gant told The New York Times that the officer driving the SUV was taken to a local hospital and that the driver of the Camaro was uninjured.

The Camaro seems to be the worst off of the two, having sustained damage to its front end up to the wheel wells. All of us here at Carscoop are hoping and praying that Bumblebee will be okay...

By Tristan Hankins

Via: The Washington Post

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