Ouch! Supercar prang lands insurer with record bill

AN INSURANCE company has been landed with a £300,000 repair bill after a motorist crashed one of the world's rarest supercars during a test drive on an Aberdeenshire road.

• A new Pagani Zonda S costs 530,000

The motorist, a professional driver, took a Pagani Zonda S for a spin in the country lanes near Aberdeen last September.

But the car was seriously damaged when it spun out of control and hit a telegraph pole and fencing before coming to rest in a field. It is understood the driver was not seriously injured.

A new Zonda costs in excess of 500,000 and insurer Aviva today said the bill for repair to the vehicle, which has a top speed of 220 miles per hour, could be in excess of 300,000.

A spokesman for the firm said: "This is the biggest insurance pay-out we have had for repairs to a private car in the UK. This is out of the ordinary for an insurer.

"An Aviva representative was asked to inspect a badly-damaged supercar after the insurer's policy-holder, who had been test-driving the supercar, lost control on a narrow country road and collided side-on with a telegraph pole before careering through a fence.

"Although the vehicle was badly damaged, Aviva decided that the car may be repairable and set about making arrangements for the car to be shipped across to Modena, Italy, home of Pagani, the vehicle manufacturer.

"There are roughly only 10 Zondas produced per year and they are painstakingly constructed."

The insurance claim was lodged by the test driver, not the owner of the car.

Work on the vehicle, which is made out of carbon fibre, titanium and aircraft aluminium, is expected to be completed by May.