Wednesday 18th April 2012

'World's fastest Lotus' crashed

Porsche driver apparently rear-ends 'Ronin' Lotus, had best hope owner doesn't catch up with him

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A little grey Lotus has been causing a bit of noise lately, its owner Frank Profera – AKA ‘Ronin’ – not shy of defending his car’s honour. As PH found out, unwittingly, when we rashly summed up the tuner hall at the LA show as “the land that taste forgot.” With said Lotus in the foreground of the photo.

Frank: "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry" etc

Big mistake, Frank alerting us to this in no uncertain terms in the comment thread below.

To be fair much of what lurks in the basement at the LA show is, to UK eyes, over-wheeled, over-blinged tat. And it was a throwaway comment and a mere coincidence that the shot selected to illustrate it had the Exige in the foreground.

And, as Chris Harris’s Stateside colleagues on the Drive channel recently highlighted, Ronin’s Lotus is something a bit different. You can watch the full video below but, suffice to say, Frank is a car nut with more than average drive and passion. And we got it wrong.

So the news his car has been involved in an accident on the Freeway – as reported on Jalopnik and discussed, in typically robust fashion, in both the YouTube comments beneath the Drive video and on Frank’s website - will sadden anyone who’s been following the story.

Pic of the damage from Frank's website

We’ve had just a taste of Frank’s, ah, strength of feeling when it comes to his Lotus. That from a slightly sarcastic comment. Suffice to say, we wouldn’t want to be in the shoes of the Porsche owner that apparently drove into him, should the two ever meet.

 

 

 

 

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[groomi]

Okaaay. Now I'm no crash expert, but that wheel looks pretty badly buckled and I'd be mighty surprised if that was caused by the front end (you know, the bit all soft and rounded so it doesn't hurt little children) of another car.

ETA: Ah, read his website and he was pushed into a spin and hit other things.

Edited by groomi on Wednesday 18th April 09:29