When you own a rare supercar of which only 399 were made, you may like to think that you’re the one capable of driving “like a bat out of hell”. However, businessman Frank Mountain has issued a High Court writ, claiming a reckless bus driver has wrecked his £600,000 ($1,150,000) hand-built Ferrari Enzo.

The tycoon, who was in the passenger seat, was being driven to a race track by a Ferrari dealer. The writ claims the crash cost more than £300,000 in repairs and related expenses, including compensation for loss of earnings when the owner had to travel to Italy to pick up the vehicle, loss of use of the Ferrari and a drop in the car’s value. “As a consequence of the collision the airbags inflated and the Ferrari filled with smoke and dust, rendering the driver unable to see and causing the Ferrari to collide with the VW Golf.” The Golf was written off.

The bus driver said, “My wife Christina was furious. She said, ‘You couldn’t have been in an accident with anything cheap could you?’”

Wilts and Dorset bus company, whose driver was involved, dispute the claim. Finance Director Matt Dolphin said: “We have filed a counter claim.”

All that fuss over a car!

I love Alfa Romeos. Of course, it’s easy for me to say that, never having owned one. But, even though I know all the reasons not to buy an Alfa, if given the chance, I would be severely tempted. Alfas are more than cars, they are works of art.

And the best of them is the Alfa 166, a car so pretty that most of us would give in before even sitting in it. Jeremy Clarkson tried one for Top Gear and I am happy to report that he understands about Alfas. He has even worked out a way that you can buy one without worrying about the huge depreciation they suffer from. If you live in the UK, that is.

Have a look.

In October last year I wrote of the Ferrari 250 GTO, the classic GT car that sets the standard for all the others. At the time, I was unaware of YouTube but have been digging around and found several clips that enable us to experience the GTO more immediately.

Listen to the sound of twelve cylinders working in sweet harmony in these clips, the throaty voice of six twin-choke Weber carburetors, the awe-struck voices of the onlookers. It may be a forty year old design now but it still reigns supreme.

Tuning a 250 GTO with a little road test afterwards.

Just a GTO - it’s enough!

And this is what it sounds like in its natural home, the track.

And here’s an interesting little clip:

The Ferrari 250 LM, the mid-engined car that replaced the 250 GTO. Almost as desirable…

There are only 400 Enzos in the world - oops, make that 399. It seems comedian Eddie Griffin has managed to wreck one of them while practising for a race to promote the film Redline. He was unhurt but the Enzo is a write off - that’s $1.5 million worth of motor car.

Daniel Sadek, whose car it was, has “mixed feelings” about the incident, apparently. Well, I guess he would.

Never mind, at least there’s one thing we can all learn from this: never let a joker borrow your car…