Huge Hail Storm Damages 30,000 New Volkswagens

Up to 30,000 brand-new Volkswagen cars were damaged last Sunday when a brief but vicious storm with hail the size of pingpong balls hit a lot filled with new cars at a plant in Emden, on the North Sea coast in Germnay. The parked cars were waiting to be shipped to dealerships overseas as Emden is one of Europe's three main vehicle-transportation ports.

VW company spokesman Christoph Adomat told the Süddeutsche Zeitung that the vehicles parked outside suffered chipped paint and/or dings, but luckily no windshields were broken. Although VW will definitely get paid by insurance, it remains unclear whether the damaged cars will be repaired and if not, what will happen to them.

It’s too low Stooooop! Skodas Get Low-Rider Treatment

A lorry carrying nine brand new Skoda vehicles on its back hit a skywalk connecting two buildings somewhere in the Czech Republic when its driver underestimated the height of his valuable load. From what we can tell, at least six of the nine Octavias and Fabias onboard were in one way or another damaged. Wonder how the driver tried to explain this misfortunate accident to his bosses… -More pics after the jump

Source: Skodaoctavia , Via: Autoblog.nl

Train Rams Parked BMW in Estonia

We’re not so sure whether this accident is due to human error or mechanical failure (maybe some of our Estonian readers like Henri and Kaarel can help us with this one), but fact is that this train that arrived to the Tallinn station in Estonia from Moscow, Russia, didn’t stop where it was supposed to. As you can see in these pictures from “Delfi”, the train came to a halt just inches away from the Tallinn station building. The owner of the BMW 5-Series that was parked in front of the station wasn’t so fortunate as the train rammed the driver’s side of the car. -More pics after the jump









ics via: Delfi

Video: Radio Station Drops Porsche Boxster from Crane

A Finnish radio station that goes by the name “NRJ” held a contest called “Cash or Crash” where listeners could vote to either win or destroy an all-new Porsche Boxster roadster. According to our reader Toni N. who sent us this tip, 56% of the people who took part in the vote apparently didn’t believe in luck so they chose to crash the German sportscar.

NRJ did what it promised by tying up the Boxster on a crane and dropping it from a height of 30 meters or about 100 feet. The unfortunate incident –for car lovers like ourselves that is- took place in a parking lot in Finland on Wednesday, June 18, 2008. -Video after the jump

Thanks for the tip Toni N.!

Video: Polish TV Crew’s Accident in Volvo V40 Caught on Tape!

A Polish TV crew that was returning back to Warsaw got the story (and the fright…) of their life when their Volvo V40 was involved in a roll over accident near the town of Dziecinów. According to one of the guys involved in the accident, in an attempt to avoid a collision with a green Seat Ibiza that blocked their way, the driver of the Volvo lost control of the car and rolled over into a ditch. Now, as for why the V40 was equipped with an onboard camera that was actually filming at the time of the incident, we have no idea. See the video and pictures of the accident right after the jump. -Continued

Via: Autoblog.nl

Jealous Vandals Destroy Brand New Audi A4 with Paint Stripper

About a week ago and after three months of waiting, “Detailingworld” forum member “Cl0nd0n” received his brand new 2009 Audi A4 2.0TDi S-Line in the UK. As soon as his cherished possession arrived, “Cl0nd0n” went immediately to work detailing his beautiful white 2009 A4 to near perfection. A week later and to his misfortune, “Cl0nd0n” saw his £35k (about $70k!), 6 days old and with, just 580 miles on the odometer Audi completely covered in some kind of paint stripper that deteriorated the car’s paintjob causing serious damage.

Apparently, some utterly sick folks got really jealous and decided to destroy “Cl0nd0n’s” A4 right under his own house. Even though the poor chap had a closed circuit security TV system, he was unable to detect the anything more than a couple of shadows lurking in the dark. Just breaks your heart doesn’t it… -Continued

Link: Detailingworld

Smart Fortwo Gets Hit by Two Trucks, Makes It Out Alive

This previous generation Smart Fortwo (it’s not the one coming to the U.S.) was involved in a “double whammy” accident somewhere in the States when a large delivery truck decided to play a little snooker with the German mini hitting it from behind and serving it onto a bypassing GMC van.

The pictures, courtesy of Jalopnik and their reader “Polar” whose friend was behind the Smart’s wheel, show that the Fortwo received quite a battering. However, the driver managed to walk away from the accident with minor abrasions from the airbags. Having said that, the first-gen Fortwo did its job by protecting its passengers. We’re not aware of the extent of damages, but bear in mind that the Fortwo’s exterior body panels are made from (interchangeable) plastic. -More images after the jump

Via: Jalopnik