[Chuck Moreland]

It does seem that a lot of Carrara GTs and Enzos are being smashed up.

Maybe these wrecks are just getting more exposure because everyone has digital cameras. Combine with the satisfaction many get when they see a wealthy person stumble. So the internet spreads these pics like wildfire.

Following article from the wall street journal:

Honey, I Wrecked the Porsche
Fast, powerful and out of control. Jennifer Saranow on why some drivers are finding their new cars too hot to handle.
By JENNIFER SARANOW
June 15, 2007; Page W1

Call it a metaphor for a prosperous, risk-embracing age or just call it bad driving.
[Crash slideshow]

Auto makers are turning out a new breed of supremely fast sports cars that sell for upwards of $250,000 and share many characteristics of purebred racecars. But as more of them hit the road, often in the hands of inexperienced drivers, a growing number are ending up wrapped around trees, smashed into guardrails or otherwise totaled in accidents.

In the past 18 months, drivers across the world have cracked up at least six rare $1 million Ferrari Enzos -- only 400 of which were built. In March, a California man rammed his $300,000 Lamborghini Murcielago into five parked cars; while in England, a 39-year-old driver caused an international stir among car enthusiasts by crashing a Bugatti Veyron -- an extremely rare $1.5 million turbocharged missile with a top speed of 253 miles per hour.

It's not just drunken celebrities doing the damage. On the way to an M.B.A. class near San Diego one recent morning, Nasar Aboubakare, a 40-year-old private-equity firm president, lost control of his new 550-horsepower Ford GT and wrenched it over a lane divider. "The car is like a wild animal," he says.

To compound matters, it's tough to be inconspicuous when you damage a $150,000 automobile. After Mr. Aboubakare's accident, several passing motorists snapped pictures while one leaned out the window of his pickup truck and shouted: "What an idiot!"

Police in wealthy enclaves across the country say these accidents are not unusual. A spokesman for the Beverly Hills Police Department says his officers "regularly" handle accidents involving exotic vehicles, while Sgt. Jeffrey Kelly from Boca Raton, Fla., says his department has logged two Ferrari crashes in the past two years. "We've had our fair share," he says.
WSJ's Jennifer Saranow reports on the increasing number of accidents and wealthy sports-car owners who don't just take weekend drives.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the total number of accidents involving Aston Martins, Bentleys, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Lotuses and Maseratis rose to 141 last year, an 81% increase from 2002, while overall crashes declined statewide during that period. Porsche, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which sell a wider range of models, saw a 22% increase during that time frame.

These accidents are happening so regularly that a Web site called WreckedExotics.com -- which contains photos of dream cars reduced to smoking heaps -- added as many as 700 new examples to its gallery last year and says it attracts about 650,000 visitors a month. Founder Gregg Fidan explains the attraction this way: "It's like seeing a supermodel fall off the runway."

More Cars, More Crashes
[Show] AUTO SHOP

See some of the top-of-the-line supercars and prototypes that auto makers have unveiled recently.

One reason for the increase is that there are simply more of these so-called "supercars" on the road. CNW Marketing Research, a firm that analyzes the auto market, says Americans bought about 8,400 "ultra-luxury" sports cars last year -- more than three times the number from 2003. While the number of supercars registered in California is up sharply, the rate at which they are getting into accidents is still small -- just over 1% -- and hasn't changed appreciably since the state began breaking data down by make in 2002. (The statewide accident rate for all vehicles was 3%.)

Stefan Winkelmann, president and chief executive officer of Lamborghini, a unit of Volkswagen's Audi Group, says he's aware of "four or five" incidents involving one of the company's new 640-horsepower Murcielagos -- a small fraction of the nearly 500 models the company sold last year. Toscan Bennett, a spokesman for Ferrari, a unit of Fiat Group, says the company does not track the number of accidents involving its cars, but adds that several high-profile incidents may have contributed to a false impression that these crashes are common.

Auto makers say the rising horsepower is being offset by safety advancements ranging from all-wheel drive to ceramic brakes, rear-view cameras, extra airbags and monocoque safety cages that direct impact forces away from passengers. "The cars give themselves up for the safety of the driver," says Porsche spokesman Tony Fouladpour. Many supercars come with traction and stability control systems that automatically vary the power delivered to the wheels to help prevent drivers from sliding and skidding.

Insurance companies say that while the majority of supercar accidents do not result in serious injuries, there has been an uptick in collision claims on these cars. In some cases, rates are rising. Based on the rising cost of claims, State Farm says the same driver would have paid 9% more last year to buy physical damage insurance for a new Lamborghini Murcielago than in 2003.

Expensive sports cars have always been intimidatingly fast, but experts say the latest models are not just more powerful, they're also lighter: Ferrari's new 599 GTB Fiorano produces about .164 horsepower per pound -- a 21% improvement over the model it replaced. The trouble begins when overconfident drivers start trying to push the cars to speeds that even experienced drivers may not be capable of handling. "Generally speaking, the cars are well over the heads of the drivers," says Glenn Roberts, the owner of an auto-body shop in Fountain Hills, Ariz., that repairs damaged exotic cars.

The people buying these cars are also changing. Unlike previous supercar collectors who often babied their machines, they tend to drive about 4,000 to 6,000 miles per year -- more than double the average from a decade ago. And they're not getting any more mature: the median age for ultra-luxury sports-car buyers dropped to 47 last year from an average of 56 just 10 years ago, according to CNW. And you don't have to be an actuary to know that younger people are more likely to drive aggressively. A spokeswoman for Leland-West Insurance Brokers says most of the supercar claims the company handles each year involve men aged 25 to 40 driving newer high-performance cars too fast and losing control.

'Controllable' Speed

Adnan K. Mehmood, a 32-year-old fabric importer and stock trader from Miami, counts himself among those who don't believe a high-performance car should be pampered. He says he has driven his 2006 Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster faster than 191 mph a number of times on freeways. Mr. Mehmood says it's the engineering that gives him the confidence to go that fast. "When you are in the car, it's so stable," he says. "It's such a controllable speed. In a normal car when you are going 80 or 90, it feels like you are going really, really fast. In the Lambo, you are going 120 or 140 and honestly, it feels like it's stopped on the freeway. It feels like it's not moving."

He is awaiting delivery of Lamborghini's new Murcielago LP640 Roadster, which has an extra 60 horsepower and a new suspension design that will help make it one of the fastest cars the company has ever built -- traveling up to 211 mph and from 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds. "I want to go to 200 mph," Mr. Mehmood says.

Veteran sports-car connoisseur Michael Fux says he has a pretty good idea why all these crashes are happening. The 64-year-old mattress entrepreneur from Miami, whose collection includes a Bugatti Veyron, a Ferrari 599, an Enzo and five Lamborghinis, says younger drivers are constantly challenging him to race. "These kids, they don't use their heads," he says. "They think they're back in the old Wild West."