Insurer sues FBI for crashing seized Ferrari F50

When we think of law enforcement and Ferraris, we automatically think of the opening scenes of Beverly Hills Cop 2 where Inspector Todd warns Foley against damaging the Ferrari 328GTS he's requisitioned from the police impound for 'undercover' work.
When we think of law enforcement and Ferraris, we automatically think of the opening scenes of Beverly Hills Cop 2 where Inspector Todd warns Foley against damaging the Ferrari 328GTS he's requisitioned from the police impound for 'undercover' work.

Well, wisecracks and fish-out-of-water narrative aside, it seems like a certain FBI agent would have done well to heed Hollywood's warning after it emerged that a Ferrari F50 in the agency's possession was written off on a, erm, 'test run'.

According to The Detroit News, the story began back in 2003 when the car was pinched from a showroom in Pennsylvania. The dealership reported the car stolen and duly collected on the $750,000 insurance policy.

In 2008, the FBI recovered the F50 and told the insurers, but hung onto it while they waited to use it in the trial, and eventual conviction of the criminal. Fair enough. Unfortunately, in 2009, an assistant US attorney and an FBI agent decided to took the Ferrari for a quick spin while it was being moved.

According to an email written by the attorney the on the day of the accident, the agent lost control of the F50 almost immediately, and put the supercar into the weeds, effectively destroying it.

Of course, by this time, the Ferrari was legally the property of Motors Insurance, who promptly filed for $750,000 in damages. This was rejected by the Justice Department last year as they said the accident occurred while the car was detained by the FBI, and was therefore exempt from such a claim.

Following an appeal and a denied request for details of the accident via the Freedom of Information Act, the insurance company yesterday filed suit in an attempt to force the agency to reveal the exact details of what happened during the crash.

It all sounds very messy and unpleasant. Although, now we think about it, at the moment it's the insurers carrying the can rather than some Inspector Todd-style authority figure within the FBI. So perhaps this is exactly the way Axel Foley would have played the whole affair after all.
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