Billionaire's Pagani Pa-gone-i after teen son takes hypercar out for a drive, trashes it

Ah, kids. Who'd have them, right? Well, for many the biological imperative proves strong and this is why we can't have nice things. However, some people – like Dallas TX-based real estate billionaire Tim Gillean – can afford to have both nice things and children. For Gillean, these nice things come in the shape of an enormous …

[Lars]

Why this

on the Register.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Why this

You're new here??

It's in "bootnotes" - feel free to unsubscribe from that category!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Why this

Because despite us all being lovely people, secretly we all like a bit of schadenfreude.

In these times raising a smile is something to be applauded, The Reg is pretty factual and on topic for a web-site!

[bombastic bob]

Re: Why this

secretly we all like a bit of schadenfreude.

Lesee... rich kid wrecks daddy's $3m car toy.

while test -n "$breathing" ; do roll_on_floor ; laugh ; done

[Toni the terrible]

Re: Why this

The kids Dad is a billionaire, he can afford trashing the odd supercar by his son or other family member

[Dabooka]

Re: Why this

You're not form around these parts are you?

It's in Bootnotes, the home of much non-related nonsense.

[chivo243]

Re: Why this

You have a Silver Vulture badge, and you ask why?

[Jim Mitchell]

Re: Why this

Is it silver, or tin?

[BenDwire]

Re: Why this

Mine's Platinum !!

Like or subscribe to my channel for more inane bollocks.

/s

[Youngone]

Re: Why this

Inane bollocks? I'm in. That's my favourite.

[EVP]

Re: Why this

I’m going to let my offspring to drive my badge. I can always buy a new one. Wait...

Bootnote’s bootnote: I wonder how many golden ones are produced yearly? I bet they are rarer than those Paganinis.

[Just an old bloke]

Re: Why this

Is that the fabled brass badge?

[Dabooka]

Re: Why this

Gold ones aren't issued any longer so I believe.

I 'lost' my silver recently as I fell below the post threshold. Mainly as I have little to contribute. I'll start popping up in Bootnotes are finding excuses to post more I guess.

[Cuddles]

Re: Why this

"I 'lost' my silver recently as I fell below the post threshold. Mainly as I have little to contribute."

I fail to see how having anything relevant to contribute is related to the number of posts one makes.

[Jamie Jones]

Re: Why this

"I fail to see how having anything relevant to contribute is related to the number of posts one makes"

Guilty as charged!

[EVP]

Re: Why this

If I ever lose my brazen one, I can always claim that it was trashed by my offspring.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Lars Re: Why this

Because IT folks are into cars guns and fast women.

Now if you're like the author.. the only fast cars and fast women will tend to be virtual.

Moi?

Old enough to have lost the need for speed & married so fast women will end up costing me 1/2 my net worth plus legal fees. Just not worth it. ;-)

[Aussie Doc]

Re: Why this

Because YouTube? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Have one of these and chill -------->

[disgruntled yank]

Ask any actuary

There's a reason that young men are charged the highest prices for insurance. I'm glad to hear the kid walked away.

[DavCrav]

Re: Ask any actuary

"There's a reason that young men are charged the highest prices for insurance."

Not in the EU/UK they aren't. Sex discrimination is illegal here.

[Pascal Monett]

Yes, in France at least, it is the case. Just not only for young men. It's a fact that young people have the worst accidents, statistically speaking, so it costs more to insure them.

They get around any discrimination cases by simply charging more for anyone who hasn't been insured for, I think, five years. Given the drive to have a car, people typically get their license at around 18, but if you wait until you're 40, you'll be paying the high price until you're 45.

[Dr_N]

The problem in France is that most of the yoof learn their "roadskillz" on a scooter and then try and drive cars in the similar manner,

But at least they seem less inclined to drive raging drunk as the previous generation did.

(Ironically both groups end up in a Vehicule Sans Permis.)

[deadlockvictim]

The French

Or simply that they are mad.

When I worked at a chantier some 30 years' ago, one of the French guys in charge was fond of driving at 10Km/h ( 6 mph in old money) on route nationale 10 just to annoy other drivers. He also may have been trying to kill us. I hadn't considered that option yet. It is one of the main arteries in the west of France. He was also the type of person that went around roundabouts 4-5 times before turning off.

Driving at 10Km/h on a main road is hard.

[Dr_N]

Re: The French

deadlockvictim> He was also the type of person that went around roundabouts 4-5 times before turning off.

At least he didn't reverse or throw a U-turn which many do on roundabouts.

[Anonymous Coward]

It actually stopped 8 years ago, due to EU jurisprudence.

http://leparticulier.lefigaro.fr/jcms/p1_1415451/assurances-la-fin-de-la-discrimination-hommes-femmes

And you contradict yourself, as you say that somebody who's 40 will pay a high price if they've not been insured for 5 years. So what insurances are looking for is not age, but a recent, continuous practice of driving.

[DiViDeD]

Car Insurance Costings

Same in Australia. My Fully Comp insurance for the Alfa Spider is still less than the Compulsory Third Party my neighbour pays on his 3 door Kia hatchback - as I frequently delight in telling him.

[boblongii]

Re: Ask any actuary

"Sex discrimination is illegal here."

This wouldn't be sex discrimination. Young male drivers are simply worse drivers. Legislating to say that they're not doesn't change that. All it achieves is to demonstrate that something has gone wrong with your law-making process.

It's nice to have a proper example of political correctness for a change. PC is when we have to say that something that is not true is true because real life is not socially or politically acceptable. It's not actually for when the world has moved on and left your personal values behind or for when someone you don't like says something that's popular.

[PerlyKing]

Re: Ask any actuary

I was talking to someone a couple of years ago who might reasonably have known a bit about this - he was a volunteer in the IAM's young driver section.

According to my source, insurance premiums are driven by the statistics for particular models. Lots of young drivers crash Ford Fiestas, therefore they cost an arm and a leg to insure for young drivers. Not many young drivers crash Mazda RX8s, so the insurance for his 17-year old offspring was surprisingly affordable!

[macjules]

Re: Ask any actuary

Fiesta or VW Polo are best for teenagers: cheap to replace parts, service and a Fiesta can withstand the "What do mean Dad, why do I have to put oil in it?" long enough.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ask any actuary

> a Fiesta can withstand the "What do mean Dad, why do I have to put oil in it?" long enough.

It doesn't, trust me. Or ask my dad.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ask any actuary

Surprising... I know a guy who bought an RX-7 during a midlife crisis. He was expecting a hefty increase in his insurance bill, but was in a financial position where he could afford it. When he asked the price, instead of a number, his insurance agent said "we're done". No price jacking, they just dropped him completely. They figured a middle-aged divorcee with a little red sports car was just not worth the risk.

[Hugh Pumphrey]

Re: Ask any actuary

Odd. five years back, when my boring family C-Max died I got a dodgy old Audi TT as my mid-life crisis car. It looked hot, and it went like a scalded cat: it was the 225HP version with the bigger turbo and the twin exhausts. The insurance costs hardly changed at all: the industry's attitude seemed to be "You have driven for a long time, with very few accidents. You are boring. We don't care what you drive"

It had to go this year because too much of it was worn out for it to be worth fixing it up to MOT-passing standard. <fx: sob> I enjoyed every minute I was driving it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ask any actuary

I had a college friend who drove an old Volvo station wagon. Not a college guy's idea of a sweet ride, so when his parents visited invtheir own wagon, we razzed him about looking forward to his next hand me down wagon. He laughed at us, and told us about the time his parents were side by side at a stoplight. Dad in his Porsche, mom in her Volvo wagon, dad decided to drag race mom when the light turned green.

Mom won.

Mom's wagon has a turbo.

Dad sold the Porsche, and bought his own Volvo wagon.

[Tom 38]

Re: Ask any actuary

There's a reason the rozzers use Volvo XC90s and V90s, and its not just so they can get their shopping in the back.

[Coastal cutie]

Re: Ask any actuary

The successors to the 850 T5s from back in the day - jeez did those things take off when the accelerator was floored

[Michael Wojcik]

Re: Ask any actuary

Yeah. I have a 2015 XC70 T6, for Reasons, and its engine is rated at 300 bhp (a bit under 225 kW, according to units), which is frankly kind of ridiculous. I've overtaken people while pulling a trailer full of tools and furniture up the La Veta Pass, and the engine wasn't anywhere close to straining.

I really got the T6 -- the turbocharged inline-6 -- because charging makes a perceptible difference over naturally-aspirated at the altitude of the Mountain Fastness and vicinity (the MF is at 7600 ft / 2300 m above sea level); and an inline-6 is basically the smoothest cylinder configuration for a four-stroke engine (because many of the harmonics cancel out), making it pleasant for long drives. It's not a Rolls, but at the price point it's a very nice touring car.

I never really make use of that 300 horsepower. I guess it'd be handy for towing something larger; the car's rated to tow 3600 pounds, I think.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ask any actuary

"inline-6 is basically the smoothest cylinder configuration for a four-stroke engine"

Well, to be fair, adding two cylinders to a 4-cylinder engine will make it run smoother in most configurations ;-)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ask any actuary

There was me thinking that they use it like everyone else does: to terrorise normal car drivers at school pickup.

[Sorry that handle is already taken.]

Re: Ask any actuary

What was he driving, a 924?

[eldakka]

Re: Ask any actuary

It also depends on who your insurance company is.

Some companies are very conservative, and just won't insure anything at all that is even vaguely exotic or vaguely modified (e.g. I've known people who had insurance cancelled because they put on 3rd-party mags). Their business model is based on insuring purely boring and mass-market vehicles.

Other companies are more flexible, as long as it's not too exotic or too heavily modified.

Yet others specialise in more exotic cars.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ask any actuary

> because they put on 3rd-party mags

Mags? As in magnetos?

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Ask any actuary

I think it American for Alloys. :-)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ask any actuary

"You have driven for a long time, with very few accidents. You are boring. We don't care what you drive"

And yet they wont insure you to drive any car (below an agreed level)

They wont even insure you to drive any of your own cars, you have to have 3 polices

They wont even let you use your great driving record (ncb) for more than one of those polices.

cunts

excuse my french but the whole process really grinds my gears.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ask any actuary

"They wont even let you use your great driving record (ncb) for more than one of those polices."

Actually you can work round that - insure the one you have the NCB on with one of the firms like Admiral that offer multi-car policies then add the others onto the multi-car; they give the same NCB for the additional vehicles. Then at the end of the year you're free to insure each one elsewhere taking you NCB on each one. Managed to magic up 10+ years NCB on my Evora this way.

[DJO]

Re: Ask any actuary

TT225, I had one of them. Was surprised it was cheaper to insure than the less powerful Japanese MX5 or MR2s.

The TT does have a large blind spot .....

With the insurance plus a grand I got a SLK320 which cost roughly the same to insure but was better than the TT in every metric (except maintenance costs, mercs are EXPENSIVE to fix). If you thought the TT was fun, the SLK was a delight to drive, could arrive more relaxed than when I departed, hard top convertible too which was great for the 2 or 3 warm summer evenings we get each year.

But like an idiot I drove it like a sports car and not a miniature limousine, got 5 years out of it before the suspension gave up at which point the repairs would have cost more than the car was worth.

[JimboSmith]

Re: Ask any actuary

In 1988 the North Devon Link road was completed 6 months ahead of schedule. It was Tarmac (I think) who had built it so quickly. They'd put road signs every so often reminding drivers of this fact and how smug they were. There was a small problem with this early completion though, the speed cameras or rather the lack of. There was an order in for speed cameras but for the original completion date. This was not a secret locally, everyone knew there wasn't a camera on the road. So it was a great stretch of A road to give your engine a workout - or just show off.

One of my classmates was boasting about how his dad was picking up his new company BMW that Saturday. He said they were going to see what it could do on Sunday morning burning up the Link Road. Well Monday morning pops up and said classmate comes in to school but neglects to mention how well the car went. After some badgering he admitted they were going like the clappers down the new road.

Going at 'just above' the speed limit was brilliant apparently. Sadly they were then overtaken by a pile of crap going a hell of a lot faster. It was a modded VW Beetle that had the obviously swapped engine partly hanging out the back Abarth 595 style. His dad was crestfallen that his new beemer had been beaten by "A fucking Beetle".

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ask any actuary

Reminds me of my late, lamented Jaguar XJS. I had it converted from a state barge by a guy who built race cars for amateur racers. There's a thriving scene for this kind of thing in the UK where you perform your fastest lap times at race tracks, usually in less desirable models of Porsche or Japanese super-cars. Lowering and stiffening the suspension on a 5.3 litre V12 XJS, along with tweaks to the drive train, results in the ultimate go kart - slam your foot down on the accelerator, double pump it for the "kickback" and the acceleration pushes you into the seat.

This was great on the ring road when driving to work. Local chavs in their hot hatchbacks would sit at the traffic lights revving their engines thinking they would smoke the long haired weirdo in the old man's car, only to be left choking on my exhaust smoke. Fun while it lasted, but the cooling system was a notorious weak spot with the aptly named Jaguar Fireball engine, and one day the water pump failed and cooked the engine.

[Down not across]

Re: Ask any actuary

I had couple of XJ-S with 5.3 HE engine. I loved that car. Wasn't hard to take it from stock 299hp to 400-450 hp if you wanted to. I should've never sold the last one, doubt I'd find as good one now without having to pay ridiculous money for it. Only issue I ever had was ignition amplifier dying once. Other than that 100% reliable.

[Alan Brown]

Re: Ask any actuary

The main problem with XJ-Ses was that the body would rot around the drivetrain. One of our staff reputedly got into his one day, only to find his seat resting on the tarmac when it stopped moving

[Down not across]

Re: Ask any actuary

That's true. My first one looked great. On the surface. Front crossmember was totally rotten. It was weldable, but only just. When I bought the second one, I had wised up to check it much more thoroughly and it was a good 'un. Lovely car. I miss it.

[Sgt_Oddball]

Re: Ask any actuary

My dad's old Merc G-Wagon was like that (one of the original ex-Austrian order models not the soft cars for rich folk they became) with a 2.3 litre engine.. The same engine as in the cosworth E190.

New cylinder head, side out exhaust and 4 wheel drive with a clutch that laughs at being dropped at high revs and it'd leave wheel drift marks from the lights, smoking just about anything that tried getting off the line quicker.

Even more fun when the exhaust would spit fire over who ever was on the right hand side of the car..

I miss that f*&£ing tank...

[rmv]

Re: Ask any actuary

They completed the section of the North Devon link road between our village and Tiverton, but it was several months before it opened to anything other than construction traffic. We used to skateboard down it on weekends - five miles of pristine tarmac, downhill all the way to town. They even put chicanes in every quarter mile or so to make it more interesting for us.

More recently, my dad watched the police set up a speed trap just west of the Bolham roundabout on that road. An unmarked police car drove west from the roundabout along the single lane section, considerably under the speed limit, building up a queue of traffic behind it. Then it pulled into the layby at the end of that section. Everyone in the queue immediately accelerated and tried overtaking as they entered the two lane section just in time to get caught by the speed trap the police had placed just around the corner. The unmarked car then did a U-turn and went back to the roundabout to repeat the process several times.

[Clunking Fist]

Re: Ask any actuary

When I purchased a aging Alfa Spider for GBP1,500, my insurance company (and other High St insurers) wanted GBP2,200 to 2,500 in premiums from me. After the fourth company, I asked them what I could do. I'm glad I asked: "Buy a classic car magazine and look at the ads" Sure enough, after about 5 quid on a mag and phone call later, I was fully comp for about GBP400. 1999 prices.

[David Hicklin]

Re: Ask any actuary

Often the case with, when I got my horsebox (3.5t converted DCi120) the mainstream insurers were useless wanting song, dance and verse about every mod made. Contacted a more specialist firm and got a decent price and they would also do recovery of the horse. For normal breakdowns its the RAC that come out!

[Sorry that handle is already taken.]

Re: Ask any actuary

I've had a well known "enthusiast" insurance company reject me multiple times for a different reason each time. One was "insufficient experience driving nominated vehicle" after five years of ownership. The latest one was that parking at work wasn't secure enough. They must charge their (presumably tiny) customer base like a wounded bull if the volume of their advertising is any indication.

And last year a different insurance group rejected an application because a claim had previously been made on the vehicle. They weren't interested in the nature of the claim, only that one had been made. The mind boggles.

[Loyal Commenter]

Re: Ask any actuary

For similar reasons, when I used to ride a motorbike, it was actually cheaper to insure fully comp than just 3rd party. Presumably, the logic here is that people who are insuring 3rd party only are not expecting to survive being in a write-off that's their fault.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ask any actuary

You mean that making a man pay more for his insurance only because he is a man is not sex discrimination? Smarter people than you have decided that it is, and is against the law.

Insurance is about mutualizing risk, not adjusting payments according to statistics that applies to the groups you belong to.

[TimMaher]

Re: Ask any actuary

You try telling the insurance industry that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ask any actuary

And nothing at all to do with profit?

[roytrubshaw]

Re: Ask any actuary

"Insurance is about mutualizing risk, not adjusting payments according to statistics that applies to the groups you belong to."

Insurance is entirely about adjusting payments according to statistics ...

Unless there is legislation to prevent it.

(Hence my premium is far less than my son's and adding my wife and daughter to my policy brings my premium down! :) )

[Prst. V.Jeltz]

Re: Ask any actuary

adding people generally brings it down , its fucking weird.

I put my gf on my policy - it goes down

well yes you might say , logical , half the time a safer driver is behind the wheel.

She puts me on her policy - it also goes down.

maybe people prepared to let other people drive their cars are lower risk!?

[Loyal Commenter]

Re: Ask any actuary

Insurance is about mutualizing risk, not adjusting payments according to statistics that applies to the groups you belong to.

Which is why actuarial tables are just big spreadsheets filled entirely with the number 1 in every cell, right?

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: Ask any actuary

But just be careful of the format you save them in.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ask any actuary

Why the hell female drivers should subsidise male ones is beyond me.

[Ken Hagan]

Re: Ask any actuary

Because the law-makers have decided that changing your sex isn't a reasonable option. If it bothers you, I'm sure there are situations where the same law works the other way. (Pensions spring to mind.)

[Mystereed]

Re: Ask any actuary

The reason that the premium may go down a bit when you add a partner could be that then there are two of you on the policy and can share the driving if going a distance or swap if one is feeling unwell?

[veti]

Re: Ask any actuary

A few years after the EU ruling (in 2012), a UK study found that the gap between premiums charged to men and women had actually widened.

The reason was that insurers were now asking a lot more relevant questions, about your occupation, history and habits, your car, its keeping, maintenance and modifications - and the answers to those questions were skewing premiums much more towards men than the old gender question. And this is perfectly kosher because it's not discrimination.

Turns out, the "men have more accidents" factoid is just lazy statistics. It's true, but only in the same way as "drivers have more accidents" - if you correct for all the compounding factors, the difference all but disappears.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ask any actuary

The way it was explained to me by one of the pricing analysts at the company I work is that if you look at the actual claims experience data, overall women do make more claims than men but that the average cost of the claims were both smaller individually and less in total size.

There are of course people at both ends of the bell curve with each gender, but the average male tends to have incidents involving higher speeds and so cause more damage both to their own vehicle and that of anyone they may hit as well as more severe injuries.

The EU directive which bans using gender as a pricing factor is in force and our company does not use gender when calculating a premium, so in effect the claims cost embedded in a premium will be averaged over all genders who have driven that type of car in that area at that age and had claims etc, so you could say that females do end up subsidising males drivers.

There are still areas where gender IS allowed to be used when setting prices:

- For life insurance, males on average die earlier than females, so temporary life cover is more expensive for men because they (or their estate actually) is more likely to claim for death cover.

- On pensions (specifically the annuity part of a pension), because women live longer, the annuities will be paid out for longer on average, so the average annuity payment per year in return for each X,000 dollars or pounds will be lower.

Anonymous because I know that some of the pricing people are quite secretive about this stuff at our company. Not all of them though and when going through requirements and implementation with the open people, I've never seen anything 'dodgy' in terms of premium setting. I keep looking though because I will have no problem whistle-blowing!

[eldakka]

Re: Ask any actuary

- For life insurance, males on average die earlier than females, so temporary life cover is more expensive for men because they (or their estate actually) is more likely to claim for death cover.

I'd be really worried if dead people started to personally turn up making claims ...

[Alan Brown]

Re: Ask any actuary

"Young male drivers are simply worse drivers."

30 years ago my insurer pointed out that young women are just as bad as young men - and that women have MORE claims then men, but they tend to be slow speed paint scrapers (cheap) vs high kinetic energy events (not cheap)

The single most common insurance claim BY FAR was (and is) "Reversed into another vehicle in a supermarket car park"

[Rainer]

Re: Ask any actuary

Still a thing here in Switzerland.

An insurance agent once told me, I pay only a third or less of what a young man from Albania or Kosovo (or really any Balkan country + Turkey) would pay (for my car).

(German, mid-30s then).

Though a lot of insurances have just chosen to not insure a certain demographic anymore.

[Jamie Jones]

Re: Ask any actuary

Aged 17. my brother - "best driver in the world", according to him - severely damaged our parents car, and an innocent car when he lost control of it 3 days after passing his test.

As he (literally) ground to a halt, radio blasting, windows open, the other driver calmly said "I hope you're bloody insured." - The poor guy was just out for a spin - he'd literally picked his car up that day from the garage - where it had been to be fixed after another crash that wasn't his fault!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ask any actuary

"The poor guy was just out for a spin - he'd literally picked his car up that day from the garage - where it had been to be fixed after another crash that wasn't his fault!"

So that'll be his insurance renewal figure going up then - never figured out how being the victim of some other muppet makes your insurance cost more.

[Mark #255]

Re: Ask any actuary

Evidently, insurers increase the premium for unlucky drivers.

[Jamie Jones]

Re: Ask any actuary

I didn't know they did that. That's harsh.

Still, this happened 30 years ago, so he's probably over it by now!

[tfewster]

Re: Ask any actuary

I disagree. Stupidity should have consequences. I just hope they didn't harm any innocent bystanders.

[Pascal Monett]

It will have consequences. Given that he will have learned nothing, he'll do it again.

And next time he might not be so lucky.

[Anonymous Coward]

In my experience, young men are better drivers than young women. The problem is the women think they're worse than they actually are but the men think they're way better.

When I was 17, a few people in my group had some scrapes, some worse than others. With the women, it was usually a case of panicking and doing something daft, or misjudging something (actually that was just my girlfriend at the time) and with the men, the incident was usually preceded with "watch this" or something to that effect.

I'm certainly glad I didn't have the horsepower under my foot then that I do now. My insurance now is less than it cost third party in the early 90s for a rusty metro. Raw figures without inflation.

[Just an old bloke]

I date from the time of crossply tyres, rear wheel drive, low HP engines and no seat belts in Austin A30's and Morris Minors. This combination teaches car control, how to get around a corner quickly and safely when you shouldn't be able to and above all, how to be a good driver, a driver who becomes part of the car rather than a computer operator passengering with a steering wheel where every mistake is auto corrected and crashes are much safer. Modern cars (post 1990) are pretty boring. In my yoof, the majority of crashes seemed to involve alcohol or were as a result of poor road design and lighting. Driving was so much more enjoyable in the sixties and seventies.

[Giles C]

Whereas my car has

Sticky tyres, rear wheel drive, 170bhp and weighs 600kg, no abs or traction control.

You have to know how to drive that or it will end up the facing the wrong way every couple of seconds especially if the tyres are cold (and they don’t warm up quickly because it is so light).

The 2013 318d isn’t really that interesting to drive but at this time of year it is more comfortable....

[JimboSmith]

Re: Ask any actuary

Years ago I was at a Christmas party where in one group the subject was cars. There were a few brands and sporty models mentioned to general approval. Then one chap said that he had a Subaru Forrester which he said was a 4 wheel drive estate car. He defended this saying it was actually a rocket because it was basically the estate version of the Imprezza. It drank fuel apparently but for an estate car it was surprisingly bloody fast when you put your foot down. Also as a 4WD Estate the insurance was really cheap and his kids were on his policy.

Then a woman who'd said very little until this point suggested he sold the car. She worked for one of the large motor insurers and they had cotttoned on to the performance of the Forrester. She said his insurance would skyrocket at the next renewal and would be far worse if his teenage kids were on it. She said they hadn't changed the insurance group so if he was quick he could sell it listing the current lower group. She then handed out other good bits of advice to reduce premiums to the other car drivers.

[Grease Monkey]

He can get another one.

But not quickly.

He'll either need to wait for one to come up second hand or add himself to the end of a pretty impressive waiting list.

[Roger Greenwood]

It would be cheaper (and possibly quicker) to trade in and upgrade the kid....

[The Oncoming Scorn]

Billionaire: Doctor I'd like to speak to you about a termination of a unwelcome pregnancy.

Doctor: I'd need grounds, but for starters how many weeks since conception?

Billionaire: About 936

[Sykowasp]

When you think about the cost of this car ...

3 million to a billionaire is about the same hit as 3 grand is to a millionaire of the same scale, and even less for those of us whose net worth is in the hundreds of thousands.

I.e., this pagani cost as much to the dude as a 15 year old VW golf does to you or me. And to your average renting person in their 20s, it's probably as much as a decent RC car.

[Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse]

Re: When you think about the cost of this car ...

I'm not sure why that matters. If the guy is a petrolhead then I'd assume he'd still be pretty pissed off.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: When you think about the cost of this car ...

Or he might be pretty happy, if his life view is:

- there's no point having money, if you don't spend it

- some things are more important than both money and cars. He and his son walked away.

[drand]

Re: When you think about the cost of this car ...

Both perfectly reasonable viewpoints, but I'd say more important than both is "teach one's children to not be dicks".

[Sorry that handle is already taken.]

Re: When you think about the cost of this car ...

If your teenage kid has a youtube channel the content of which is predicated on his dad's wealth, I'd say that ship sailed long ago

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: When you think about the cost of this car ...

He's not a petrol head as much as a show off. I doubt the car ever saw a track day. It was used to impress his friends. The kid used it as it was meant to be used but didn't have the experience to control it.

As its still got the engine and chassis number I assume it will be repaired and the dad will have a new story to tell his friends.

But still, ha ha ha.

[onemark03]

Re: When you think about the cost of this car ...

Say what you like, 17 is still far too young to be driving a car on the road. Here in Germany the legal driving age is 18 and sometimes even that's too young. But at least driver training is better.

[doublelayer]

Re: When you think about the cost of this car ...

"3 million to a billionaire is about the same hit as 3 grand is to a millionaire of the same scale"

Remember the law of decreasing marginal utility, or without the textbook, that more money starts to be less valuable when you have a lot of it. Billionaires don't usually have to worry about running out of money needed for basic living or even an emergency expense (unless they're the type to never think about their needs for money), so it's probably worth even less to him.

[Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse]

On a similar note...

On a similar note, I was doing some work at McLaren HQ in Woking when they had Rowan Atkinsons F1 in for a rebuild after he pranged it. At the time it was reported that it was the single most expensive one-off car insurance repair ever.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: On a similar note...

A friend of mine was the one to drag it out of the field.

Warning , this comment has no purpose or relevance

[Anonymous Coward]

i'll stick to my skoda fabia thanks

[Anonymous Coward]

ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!

... time passes ...

ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!

What a twat.

[Jimmy2Cows]

Careful you aren't crushed under the weight of that chip on your shoulder.

[Potemkine!]

Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car

A $3,400,000 toy crashed when so many next door starve... what a fucked-up world.

[PerlyKing]

Re: Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car

While I sort of understand the sentiment, would you rather he had tucked the money away in a vault? The fact that he's spent it on something means that quite a few people's wages have been paid, from the car designer through the engineers, coachbuilders (or whatever you call them), canteen staff, janitors and so on. And taxes of course, you can't forget the taxes.

And having crashed it, that also makes work for a tow truck driver, mechanic, ... ;-)

[My other car WAS an IAV Stryker]

Re: Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car

I agree with both of you simultaneously, if that's even possible.

(I refuse to hold a simple one-sided view of the world, people in particular.)

[eldakka]

Re: Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car

And taxes of course, you can't forget the taxes.

It seems the megarich - people and companies - do tend to forget the taxes, paying them that is.

[stiine]

Re: Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car

Mr Zorg congratulates you on your grasp of economics.

---> not a water glass, but close.

[chivo243]

Yes, it IS insured!

with the best insurance a billionaire can buy.

[werdsmith]

Re: Yes, it IS insured!

They don’t need insurance, they can underwrite themselves by guaranteeing their assets. A wealthy person need never pay any more than an admin fee to insure a fleet of super cars, unless one prangs.

[wolfetone]

Guys, it's alright.

He's posted a photo of him with a bit of a bandage on his arm, and he'll be putting a video up tomorrow about it.

[Kubla Cant]

Is Gauge a name? I thought it was a tool.

[Aladdin Sane]

Why not both?

[G R Goslin]

It's also the distance between two adjacent railway lines

[Marty McFly]

Ha!

I caught the name too. Probably because 'Gauge' was the first name of the most f-d up discipline case in my high school.

[TDog]

It's a force carrying boson. I suspect he transferred the force efficiently but inappropriately. Oh well, I never did trust the standard model.

[roytrubshaw]

I would guess it's the stupidon* carrying the quantum of stupidity**

(*Can't think of anything better. **Can't think of anything.

Where is Terry Pratchett [may he RiP] when you need him?)

[eldel]

dumbion?

morion?

anti-survivion?

[Doctor Syntax]

"anti-survivion?"

Darwinion.

[richardcox13]

No.

It is a measure.

Eg. gauge pins used for measuring gaps in machining. Or a gauge theory in physicas in one based on a measure (eg.likelihood this point in space is an electron).

[Ken Hagan]

Actually the "gauge" in physics is a free choice that you have for one of your variables. It is Nature's way of telling you that you have too many free variables and you should probably dispense with one.

So, possibly an inspired choice here.

[Doctor Syntax]

A pressure gauge is a measuring device as is a temperature gauge. Gauge is also a verb, more likely used at mean estimate rather than measure, at least in these parts. English is a language in which words can have multiple meanings and even be multiple parts of speech.

[Sorry that handle is already taken.]

I thought she was an adult film actress

[Marty McFly]

Cross Equities is daddy's company

From their website: "The result is a proven track record of maximized returns on invested capital with a minimized exposure of risk."

Too bad daddy didn't apply that to sonny. Seventeen years ago a $.25 investment in a condom could have saved him $3.4 million today. Calculate that ROI strategy!

[Fruit and Nutcase]

Bugatti Veyron

A few years back in Shepperton, younger brother crashes Veyron that was delivered the week before

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-440530/840-000-car-written-crash.html

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1027765_first-bugatti-veyron-crash

"After the accident there was more trouble for the driver when a man arrived in a dark VW 4 x 4 with personalised number plate.

"He was shouting and screaming and saying to him that he could not believe he had crashed the car."

It is thought the angry motorist was Ajay Soni's 41-year-old brother who is known to drive a 4X4 VW.

An hour after Sunday's accident - and as the Bugatti Supercar was placed on a recovery vehicle to be taken to a specialist garage - Mr Soni and his companion were seen walking in the rain towards the family's mansion home.

"The other man in the 4X4 had already driven off in disgust and did not seem to be in the mood to offer the two men a lift home," said the eye-witness.

[T. F. M. Reader]

Driving a Pagani

We've driven a Pagani (in Forza Horizon 4) and they're rubbish, squealing on the starting line and possessing all the traction of a flan pudding

I can only assume that Richard Hammond drove a different Pagani because he rather liked it.

[quxinot]

Re: Driving a Pagani

Sure, but he's also known for crumpling a number of cars himself. So maybe it is apt?

[Jon Smit]

Rracing Point F1 team

Lawrence Stroll, another billionaire, bought a F1 team for £90m, so his son, Lance can continue to race around the world. Lance recently wrote off a his car at 150mph plus, due to a tyre blowout. Not his fault, but bloody expensive all the same.

As things stand the team's car is among the top 4 cars in F1. Despite that, Lance still trundles around in midfield and isn't showing the ability to win a race, unless there's a massive accident affecting all of the better drivers.

Oh, the team is nicknamed Tracing Point, because they are racing an exact copy of the Mercedes F1 car of last year.

[Prst. V.Jeltz]

Re: Rracing Point F1 team

must be incredibly frustrating for everyone in that team that their driver is a fake.

still , at least they're getting paid. till daddy gets bored

[DJO]

Re: Rracing Point F1 team

He did get pole at Turkey so he's not slow, but he was completely unable to convert pole into a decent finish.

Speed is not everything in F1, he'd be better off returning to a lower formula where he wasn't too bad and vacate the seat for a driver who can use it better.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Rracing Point F1 team

I know, it really brings the purity and integrity of F1 into question doesn't it, that someone can get a drive just by virtue of who they are related to. And the very thought that teams might copy off each other is just awful!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go off to watch some old recordings, and remind myself how Nelson Piquet Jr., Kevin Magnussen, Jaques Villeneuve, Damon Hill, Nico Rosberg, Bruno Senna, Christian Fittipaldi and Jolyon Palmer got on. And Pedro Diniz, who from roots as a simple billionaire's son, managed to make it into an F1 seat.

There's a really up-and-coming youngster called Mick Schumacher who races in F2 as well. I hear he's one to keep an eye on.

(Max Verstappen getting his seat at 17 raised eyebrows too, but he's probably answered most of his critics by now. Or crashed into them. Or both.)