Priciest accident ever? $31-million Ferrari crashes in France

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It was a prized Ferrari, one of a rare model known as the “Picasso of motoring” that is often included by elite automobile magazines among the top wheels in the world.

Now its owner, American businessman Christopher Cox, has a new and less desirable distinction: Driver in what could be the most costly car crash ever seen.

The Ferrari 250 GTO smashed into another car last week during a parade of pricey race cars through France, breaking the leg of his wife Ann Cox and sending two passengers in the other car to the hospital, the British newspaper Metro reported.

The hospital bills can hardly compare to the estimated worth of the unusual blue-and-yellow-Ferrari, believed to boast a price tag of more than $31 million. A mint-green Ferrari of the same kind sold for $35 million last month, blowing past earlier Guinness records for the coveted car.

The crashed car was one of only 39 in existence; the model was made for only a few years in the ‘60s. Twenty-three of the Ferraris were touring France, motoring from chateau to chateau for the 50th anniversary of the rarefied race car and finishing at the Le Mans Classic, according to Sports Car Digest.

It was not clear how badly the car was damaged. As word of the accident trickled out, Ferrari enthusiasts were glued to news, hoping the treasured car could be salvaged. The car crashed once before, in 1976, the Sun reported, but was fully restored before Cox bought it in 2005.

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-- Emily Alpert in Los Angeles