Oops! Driver wrecks rare £850,000 Ferrari that was built to celebrate car maker's 50th anniversary

• Ferrari F50 is one of only 349 made to celebrate company's 50th birthday
• It goes from 0-60mph in 3.6 seconds and has top speed of 202mph
• Driver crashed car into lamppost, badly damaging rear of the vehicle 
• Cost of car means this could be one of the most expensive single crashes    

By Claire Carter for MailOnline

Published: 07:41 EST, 23 October 2014 | Updated: 11:14 EST, 23 October 2014

For many people the chance to drive a supercar, particularly a rare Ferrari that is one of only around 300 ever made, is a dream. 

But one driver saw the experience go badly wrong when he apparently lost control of the car and collided with a lamp post. 

The Ferrari F50, which is estimated to be worth around £850,000, was left with a badly damaged rear. 

Scroll down for video 

The Ferrari F50 is worth an estimated £850,000 and repairing the car could prove a costly job for its insurers 

Repairing it is likely to be expensive and could make the crash Britain's most expensive involving one car.

The Ferrari, which is not understood to have been written off, is thought to be the most valuable car involved in a crash since Rowan Atkinson badly damaged his £3m McLaren F1 in 2011. 

He has since received a £1m insurance payout for the crash to repair the supercar.

The Ferrari F50 is one of 349 of the cars ever made and was produced to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Italian car manufacturer. 

The rare Ferrari was left with a badly damaged rear after the driver appeared to lose control at a roundabout

The Ferrari F50 is one of 349 of the cars ever made to celebrate the car company's 50th anniversary 

It is seen by some as an 'F1 car for the road' and can go from 0 to 60mph in just over three seconds.

Seamus O'Brien, 49, from Leicester, was one of the first people to arrive at the scene of the crash, which took place on Wednesday morning on the A43 in Northamptonshire.

He said: 'I was driving on the A43 near Brackley and saw the Ferrari wrapped around the lamppost.

'There was a chap wearing a Ferrari T-shirt stood besides another chap and another car had put its hazard lights on to block the lane which was 50 yards off the westbound roundabout.

'It looked like a test drive gone wrong and they had clearly come around the roundabout to head towards Silverstone and applied too much power.

'They're very unforgiving to drive and despite the very dry weather conditions, the driver clearly gave it too much welly and spun the car into the lamppost.

'Nobody was hurt apart from some seriously damaged egos.'

A spokesperson for Northamptonshire Police said: 'We were called at 11.11am on Wednesday morning to reports a silver Ferrari was involved in a collision with a lamppost.

'The lamppost and the car were damaged, but there were no injuries.'

Rowan Atkinson lost control of his McLaren F1 supercar, leading to repairs on the £3m car which cost £1m

Mr Bean actor Rowan Atkinson last year received a £1m insurance payout to cover repairs after he badly damaged his McLaren F1 supercar in 2011, breaking his shoulder in the crash.

Atkinson lost control of the 240mph car, thought to be worth more than £3million, in August 2011.

After veering off a slippery section of the A605 near Peterborough, it hit a tree and burst into flames. 

Driver crashes rare Lamborghini on London street (related)

Comments (54)

Share what you think

• Newest
• Oldest
• Best rated
• Worst rated

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now