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Pelican Wrecks Million Dollar Bugatti Veyron

Updated on January 30, 2013

Read and Weep

The Bugatti Veyron, a perfectly balanced combination of high powered performance and sleek uncompromising design. An extraordinary automobile that can only be described in superlative terms.

Even at a complete standstill the car’s enormous power is made visible by its impressive 16 cylinder mid-engine, elevated majestically beneath the chassis; the chrome air inlets integrated harmoniously into the roof-line, flanking the engine block like two muscle cords. Its bold sculpted proportions, well balanced surfaces, and clear line structure give an impression of pure, sleek elegance. The Veyron unites the dichotomy of elegant form and high-tech function, of grace and power, aesthetics and safety, a perfect synthesis of design and technology.

Capable of a maximum speed of 252mph and 1001hp, its ample power reserves even at high speeds are the fabric of dreams. A sophisticated aerodynamics management system and hydraulic height adjustment, a perfect interplay of components, align the Veyron perfectly in the wind and literally hold it onto the road, and yet, Andy Lee House managed to drive this $1.6 million milestone of 21st-Century automotive engineering off the Interstate 45 northbound frontage road and into a lake.

Million Dollar Marque Driven into Lake at La Marque

A distracted owner of a Bugatti Veyron, claimed to be the world’s fastest production car, accidentally drove off the Interstate 45, into a saltwater lake in La Marque, Texas. The driver, Andy Lee House, was uninjured, but the car was partially submerged in two feet of water.

On Wednesday, 11 November 2009, a low-flying pelican apparently distracted House, 34, owner of Performance Auto Sales, Lufkin, causing him to jerk the steering wheel, drop his cell phone, and hit a muddy patch at the edge of the road that foiled his attempt to recover the situation. The car veered off the road and ended up half submerged in the lake. After exiting his car, the Bugatti's engine, enabled by the roof level air intakes, ran for a further 15 minutes in the lake before cutting out.

Coincidentally, the incident was captured by a student who happened to by filming the car as he travelled north on the Interstate 45. The video can be seen below: (Warning, contains some swearing)

Appropriately, Andy House’s business, Performance Auto Sales, specialises in the restoration of luxury cars.

House posted a comment to the Lufkin Daily News, thanking everyone who was worried about him and the car, “I have taken my exotic cars to school events, rallies, and allow anyone to take pictures of my cars and even rides in them. I have allowed many people into my home to see my cars that I don’t even know… Say what you want about me, but there is a man in heaven right now looking over me and that’s all that matters!”

Pelican Brief: In case you are concerned, no pelicans were harmed in this incident.

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