luckily it was insured...

[Drache]

Small-town truck driver wins $300,000 Lamborgini supercar - and wrecks it just hours later

A small-town truck driver's dream turned to a nightmare when won a Lamborghini supercar - and crashed it just hours later.

David Dopp from Santaquin, Utah, span out his Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 Roadster a mere six hours after picking up the keys as the winner of a 'Joe Schmo to Lambo' contest.

The two-seater Italian sports car, of which only 4,099 have ever been made and which, with its 6.2l V12 engine, has a top speed of 205mph, evidently had more power than Mr Dopp was used to.

'Yeah, I got it on Saturday and I wrecked it on Saturday,' Mr Dopp told Utah's KSL News.

Mr Dopp, a father of six, had entered the contest to win the lime green sports car about 18 months ago, as part of a loyalty card scheme run by a local convenience store chain.

But it was only the week before last, during a football game at Brigham Young University, a private Mormon college, that it was announced that he had emerged from the contest victorious.

He went to collect the car - which, with a value of $300,000, is worth more than his house - on Saturday and, full of enthusiasm, decided to spend the entire day giving rides to his friends and family.

He crashed it just hours later

Mr Dopp told KSL: 'We were coming up a hill, going around a corner; and as soon as we came up the hill, we either hit some black ice or loose gravel or something, and all of a sudden we just started spinning.'

'We ended up in a field, and I back-ended a couple of fence posts.'

Mr Dopp's wife, Annette, told the station how her heart 'fell out' when she heard the news from a friend who had been riding with him at the time.

Police told inSantaquin News the car spun out of control and went over a curb before coming to rest in a field 75 feet off of the road embankment.

Officer Allen Hansen from the Santaquin Police said alcohol was not involved and that the accident was most likely 'speed related' as the vehicle was moving at 'speeds too fast for the conditions'.

Mr Dopp is said to have admitted to police that he was driving at 40-50mph in a 35mph zone before losing control of the car, according to inSantaquin News.

He was not cited at the scene, but a case will be submitted to the courts pending possible charges, it was reported.

Officer Hansen told inSantaquin News that he had warned Mr Dopp before the accident to be sure to observe traffic laws, adding that he felt it would be difficult for anyone driving a car like the Murciélago to resist the temptation to floor it.

'It's a super-light car, built out of carbon fibre with Z-rated tires,' he said. 'It's a crazy fast car.'

Thankfully for Mr Dopp the car is not a write-off, and one of the requirements of the contest was that he arrange full insurance for the vehicle before picking up the keys.

Damage to the car includes a puncture in the oil pan from a fence post, damage to the rear bumper, and extensive scratches to the bodywork.

It is now on its way to Las Vegas, where Lamborghini specialists will determine the repair cost.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2076952/David-Dopp-Utah-truck-driver-wins-300k-Lamborgini-supercar-wrecks-it.html

[Troy]

Who wrecks a supercar at 45 mph? If you're going to go out then go out big! AND... who drives a supercar on icy roads?

Troy

[moparstuart]

Who wrecks a supercar at 45 mph? If you're going to go out then go out big! AND... who drives a supercar on icy roads?

Troy

if he ended up that far into the field I will bet he was going alot faster than 45 

[Ponch ®]

Speculation has it that crash may not have been entirely accidental. The guy had to put up his house as collateral to get the car and insure it (why? no clue..) and was going to have to pay taxes on it (perhaps $100,000). If the car gets totaled, he gets a nice $300K insurance check. If it doesn't and they fix it, he's now stuck with a wrecked exotic car thats lost a huge chunk of its value AND the taxes, costs, etc.

http://jalopnik.com/5870057/did-a-man-intentionally-wreck-this-lamborghini-six-hours-after-he-won-it

[Old Moparz]

Ponch, that doesn't seem to make sense. He took delivery of the prize in it's more expensive, pre-wrecked condition. Why would he only have to pay the tax on a wrecked car? I bet the IRS won't see it that way.

[Ponch ®]

Ponch, that doesn't seem to make sense. He took delivery of the prize in it's more expensive, pre-wrecked condition. Why would he only have to pay the tax on a wrecked car? I bet the IRS won't see it that way.

I think the way I phrased it is somewhat confusing. But no, I would assume that he would have to pay taxes on the full value of the car, not the post-wreck value. That's why the best outcome is for it to get totaled, because he has to pay taxes from the insurance $ he would get but can still pocket a nice chunk of change when all is said and done. Assuming that this was the plan all along, he took a pretty big gamble, because if it doesn't get totaled, he's f--ed (not to mention the possibility of now being suspect of insurance fraud). Again, this is all speculation...maybe it really was just too much car for the guy.

[PocketThunder]

With 6 kids at home why didnt he just take the cash value of the prize.....?

[Old Moparz]

With 6 kids at home why didnt he just take the cash value of the prize.....?

6 kids? Maybe he crashed it by accident during his getaway.

[Ponch ®]

With 6 kids at home why didnt he just take the cash value of the prize.....?

from what Ive been reading, it was not redeemable for cash. You either took it or didnt, I guess.

and as the late, great Billy Mays used to say "but wait, there's more!":

"Man who crashed Lamborghini six hours after winning it asked Jay Leno to buy it

New evidence suggests David Dopp, the man who won a Lamborghini Murcielago and then crashed it six hours later speeding on an icy road, had a motive to intentionally crash the supercar. Amazingly, it turns out he asked Jay Leno to buy it from him well before he took delivery of the prize.

It only took an hour after we first posed the question for our crack-team of Jalopnik readers to unearth more suspicious evidence that Dopp was displaying a motive to intentionally crash the supercar he'd just won. And strangely, it involves Jay Leno.

Apparently, after the announcement was made that he'd won the car back in November, and then upon learning he'd owe $100,000 in taxes upon delivery, Dopp wrote on Jay Leno's Facebook page on November 28th:

 

Hi, I do not know if Jay sees these post but I have a problem on my hands. I know that Jay is a big car guy. I recently won a 2008 Lamborghini 2DR ROADSTER
   Verde Ithaca. The stupid government wants around $100,000 dollars in taxes and so I am forced to sell it to pay the taxes. Plus as a father of six It is a very impractical car. I was wondering if anyone knew where the best place was to sell it? Thank you for any help that can be given. Sincerely David

Is this proof Dopp intentionally crashed the car for the insurance money? No. But it certainly does provide more evidence that the crash needs some serious investigation on the part of both authorities and the insurance company."

http://jalopnik.com/5870150/man-who-crashed-lamborghini-six-hours-after-winning-it-asked-jay-leno-to-buy-it