btm
5th December 2011, 08:51 AM
http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/3-million-smash-supercars-caught-in-mass-pileup-20111205-1odyh.html
http://images.smh.com.au/2011/12/05/2817434/art-ferrari2-420x0.jpg
A Sunday drive has ended in a $3 million nightmare, with eight Ferraris, three Mercedes-Benzes and a Lamborghini involved in a 14-car pile-up in Japan.
Police said the pile-up happened on the Chugoku Expressway in Yamaguchi Prefecture about 10.15am yesterday, with 10 people hospitalised with minor injuries.
Japan's largest English language newspaper, The Daily Yomiuri, reported the crash happened on a curve of the road and one Mercedes Benz was driving in the oncoming lane.
http://images.smh.com.au/2011/12/05/2817432/art-ferrari1-420x0.jpg
ANN news video of the crash aftermath shows the sportscars lying mangled on the road, a mess of ripped metal, broken glass and snapped hub caps, with several cars wedged up against metal barriers.
About $3 million worth of supercars and luxury coupes from the 1980s to today - and a Toyota Prius - were damaged in the crash.
According to a translated report from the Asahi Shimbun the smash occurred when one of the Ferraris hit a median strip.
http://images.smh.com.au/2011/12/05/2817433/art-ferrari3-420x0.jpg
The report said there was then a series of crashes over 400 metres as the drivers went around the bend, with car parts flying through the air.
The group of drivers was made up of self-employed "car enthusiasts", who were travelling from Kyushu to Hiroshima.
A 36-year-old self-employed man from Kanzaki, Saga Prefecture, said he was driving in the opposite lane at the time of the accident.
"Cars were making a tremendous noise," he said.
The pile-up made headlines around the world, with the UK's Mirror reporting "it could be the most expensive car crash ever"
http://images.smh.com.au/2011/12/05/2817434/art-ferrari2-420x0.jpg
A Sunday drive has ended in a $3 million nightmare, with eight Ferraris, three Mercedes-Benzes and a Lamborghini involved in a 14-car pile-up in Japan.
Police said the pile-up happened on the Chugoku Expressway in Yamaguchi Prefecture about 10.15am yesterday, with 10 people hospitalised with minor injuries.
Japan's largest English language newspaper, The Daily Yomiuri, reported the crash happened on a curve of the road and one Mercedes Benz was driving in the oncoming lane.
http://images.smh.com.au/2011/12/05/2817432/art-ferrari1-420x0.jpg
ANN news video of the crash aftermath shows the sportscars lying mangled on the road, a mess of ripped metal, broken glass and snapped hub caps, with several cars wedged up against metal barriers.
About $3 million worth of supercars and luxury coupes from the 1980s to today - and a Toyota Prius - were damaged in the crash.
According to a translated report from the Asahi Shimbun the smash occurred when one of the Ferraris hit a median strip.
http://images.smh.com.au/2011/12/05/2817433/art-ferrari3-420x0.jpg
The report said there was then a series of crashes over 400 metres as the drivers went around the bend, with car parts flying through the air.
The group of drivers was made up of self-employed "car enthusiasts", who were travelling from Kyushu to Hiroshima.
A 36-year-old self-employed man from Kanzaki, Saga Prefecture, said he was driving in the opposite lane at the time of the accident.
"Cars were making a tremendous noise," he said.
The pile-up made headlines around the world, with the UK's Mirror reporting "it could be the most expensive car crash ever"