Today The Car Spotter will be discussing a tweet released by Thames Valley Police Twitter page regarding a seized Ferrari 458. The tweet showed a picture of a matte grey Ferrari 458 at the side of the M40 Motorway in Oxfordshire. The title states the driver had no license and the car featured German registration plates.
Front of the seized Ferrari 458 Italia
Rear of the Ferrari 458 Italia on the back of the recovery vehicle
From the pictures of the Ferrari 458, a couple of tuning company graphics can be seen in addition to the rear lights being smoked black. An ‘official speed camera testing vehicle” graphic can also be seen displayed on the rear of the car. It presumably won’t be doing much of that whilst it remains impounded for now.
The £200,000 vehicle was seized following reports of a speeding sports car. It turned out the driver of the Ferrari 458 did not have a valid licence. A spokesperson for the Thames Valley police twitter page had tweeted “No licence no #Ferrari”
A statement followed later stating, “Officers pulled over a Ferrari 459 at 09:15 GMT, after receiving reports that a car had been driving quickly up the motorway.”
“It transpires the driver had no licence, so the car was seized and he was dropped off at the nearest point of safety.”
“He was reported for driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence.”
Twitter comments varied in response from fergie_cat offering to buy the car for £5 and others expressing no sympathy, milkomaic stating “should abide by the law like we all have to #crushit”
Jenny_Mustings commented asking,”Who won the battle to drive it back?”. This question was later answered with in the caption of the second tweet which stated, “The #Ferrari 456 was moved by recovery lorry not driven by @tvprp officers this morning”. Keen readers will recognise that the second tweet caption incorrectly names the Ferrari model as a 456, not the 458 that it is.
You can see the original tweets, pictures and comment responses here:
No licence no #Ferrari. Seized by officers this morning M40 Oxfordshire. P5595 pic.twitter.com/7QLTi6YjGN
— TVP Roads Policing (@tvprp) March 1, 2015
The #Ferrari 456 was moved by recovery lorry not driven by @tvprp officers this morning @markchristie pic.twitter.com/ULzdfMstJ9
— TVP Roads Policing (@tvprp) March 1, 2015
The Ferrari 458 Italia is capable of reaching a top speed of 201mph after accelerating from 0-60mph in just 3.3 seconds. This is due to a 4.5 litre V8 engine that delivers 562 horsepower and a maximum torque output of 398lb-ft.
Personally I think if anyone is in a position to drive a supercar such as a Ferrari 458 Italia, they should hold the required documentation and certificates. Hopefully the car will be reclaimed at a later date, crushing it would be a crime in itself and an auction of the Ferrari 458 with the proceeds going to charity would surely be a more beneficial option all round.
What are your thoughts on the seized Ferrari 458 Italia? Do you have any sympathy for the Ferrari 458 driver?
If you enjoy the regular blogs posted by The Car Spotter, please subscribe at the top of the web site www.thecarspotter.co.uk to be the first to receive notifications of new posts by email. Thank you.
