1996 Spider

This Ferrari currently has a clear title. I have the full history of the car and I have spoken to the prior owner of the vehicle responsible for bringing the car to California. Here is the history for this Ferrari: The prior California owner, then an Executive with Warner Brothers, purchased the car from Huntingridge Motors in 2005. One evening he was celebrating the conclusion of a work project at a Hotel on the corner of La Cienega Blvd and Beverly Blvd here in Los Angeles. He let the manager from computer animation company they were working with drive his Ferrari. They sat at a light at that intersection adjacent to the hotel. I have spoken to both the owner and the driver and both state what happened next. Their left turn arrow turned green. She started her left turn and was driving very slowly. The owner told her to give it some gas and she gave it only a slight amount of gas. He then instructed her to give it some more gas. By now they were midway through the turn. She gave it a lot more gas just as the car came into its powerband and the car spun as it was already mid-turn. The car was not going very fast as it she was just turning left at the intersection where the hotel was. With the Ferrari fishtailing, the Ferrari’s rear wheel hit the sidewalk. That was it. They both got out of the car and were actually relieved to see there was no body damage. Even the wheel itself looked okay but clearly the A-arm had bent as a result of hitting the curb. I have obtained the insurance company photographs which confirm this as well. Not one body panel on the car was damaged, no airbags deployed nor was there any serious damage. All the damage was of the simple bolt-off, bolt-on repair variety. At that time the owner wanted a BMW Z8. So the Ferrari was taken to Ferrari of Beverly Hills, the most expensive place probably in the nation to service and repair a Ferrari. Just as expected, they wrote a substantial estimate as each brand new part from their retail price sheet was expensive (and typically more expensive than even other Ferrari dealers). They even stated on the estimate that the removable subframe needed to be replaced and at a huge expense. Yet the subframe did not need to be removed or replaced which is readily verifiable. Thus, Ferrari of Beverly Hills did what was expected, they wrote a high estimate. Also as expected, Mercury Insurance concluded it would be more cost effective to pay off the car and then sell the car at an auction. As the car still looked very good without any damaged body panels, a new looking interior and super low miles, Mercury calculated it would generate a good auction sale value. By paying the car off and then selling it at an auction Mercury could avoid having to pay other non-repair costs, such as rental car and loss of use of the Ferrari. Mercury would have had to have paid for a rental car that was comparable to the Ferrari while the car was being repaired. Whether a loss of use claim or a rental car cost, renting a Ferrari is typically over $1,000 a day and if the car took four weeks to repair which was entirely possible (e.g., waiting for parts from Italy) that cost alone could be in excess of $30,000. As the owner had his eye on a Z8 he was happy to have Mercury “total” his Ferrari. Mercury cut a check and California branded the title. This Ferrari was not totaled or salvaged because of extensive damage. On the contrary, it was totaled simply because Mercury concluded it would be more cost efficient to sell the car at an auction. I have this information straight from Mercury Insurance records (including photos) and from speaking directly with the owner and the driver of the Ferrari.