Early 2000s Car Stories Were Something Else, This One Involves a Well-Known Ferrari Enzo

If you love Ferraris, specifically Enzos, then you've probably heard of Carbon McCoy. He's an Enzo owner (2004 Ferrari Enzo) and diehard lover of the Italian sports car that evolved from the Prancing Horse's F1 experience – a phenomenal supercar by all standards.

The folks at VINwiki on YouTube recently invited him to tell one of the industry's mysterious yet captivating stories. And it all begins with the debut of the Ferrari Enzo.

According to McCoy (a cultic follower of Ferraris), the Italian automaker is notorious for producing more units of its limited editions than it documents.

"When the F50 came out, they said they would make 349. One less than we know we can sell was the quote. When the Enzo was announced, Luca said the same thing. We're going to make 349. One less than we know we can sell," McCoy revealed.

McCoy knows of at least 500 units of the limited Enzo

However, when the pictures of the Ferrari Enzo finally came out, the demand was over the roof, and Ferrari pushed the number to 399 – plus one more for the pope. Well, McCoy allegedly knows of at least 500 units of the Enzo, and based on his research, he's still missing three dozen from his database.

If true, we can't blame the Italian supercar maker for exceeding its documented figure. After all, Ferrari is a business first, and the first principle of business is demand and supply.

But this story isn't about Ferrari's supply chain. It's about a Ferrari Enzo crash that revealed a billion-dollar scandal.

Well, the car in question, according to McCoy, is a world-famous black Ferrari that started life as a red Enzo. It's at this point that Stefan Eriksson gets into the picture.

Stefan Eriksson wrecked his red Ferrari Enzo racing a friend on the PCH

On February 21, 2006, Stefan Eriksson wrecked a Red Enzo (XX135564) on PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) north of Decker Canyon in Malibu. It is believed that after having a nice night out with friends, he was compelled to race the Enzo against a Mercedes SLR on the 600 miles (900 kilometers) of California coast road leading to a well-media-documented crash.

The race ended with Eriksson hitting a telephone pole so hard it tilted upside down, and the Enzo split in half with debris launched more than 100 yards down the road. He walked away with a busted lip.

It is at this point that all of Eriksson's problems and the manhunt for a man called Dietrich began.

Eriksson had lied to the police that Dietrich had crashed the car and taken off into the woods – but investigations quickly revealed that wasn't the case. His busted lip left blood all over the deployed airbag, placing him behind the wheel at the time of the crash.

Eriksson had previous records of shady dealings

Unfortunately, Eriksson wasn't the cleanest of individuals when it came to law enforcement records, and the mysterious Enzo crash unleashed a can of worms – the billion-dollar Gizmondo video game saga and his dealings with the Swedish Uppsala mafia.

Eriksson had been speeding between 140 mph (225 kph) and 190 mph (306 kph), had failed a breathalyzer test, and was the only participant in a grizzly accident at that point. He was arrested, and the remains of the Ferrari Enzo were taken to Beverly Hills Police impound.

"Officially, Ferrari said that they took the remains of this wreckage and repaired them. Repainted the car, and it's fine again. The reality of the situation is, and this is not the first time they have done this. Ferrari just built a new Enzo and assigned it the old VIN from the wrecked car. Which is something that they have done on a number of occasions," McCoy revealed.

Ferrari allegedly never repaired Eriksson's wrecked Ferrari Enzo

According to McCoy, there's a rumor that the black Enzo that now wears the exact VIN as Eriksson's wrecked unit was a Ferrari factory prototype.

"I don't know if it's true that they used a prototype or if they built a brand new car. What I do know is that they did not fix the wreckage. The red one," McCoy admitted.

As a Ferrari diehard enthusiast, McCoy believes there's no way anyone would buy a refurbished Enzo whose tub was cracked in half.

Since then, Ferrari upgraded the now black (initially wrecked red Enzo). Based on McCoy's story on VINwiki, it now has power windows, air conditioning, and a display screen for a backup camera. It's also believed to have been owned by someone in France for a while.

"Whenever a car is wrecked. That usually means that there is one less of that model. But that is not the case here. In this situation, there is one more. Almost like that mythical thing where you cut one head off, and two more appear," McCoy concluded.

Fun fact: Stefan Eriksson participated in the 2005 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving a Gizmodo-sponsored (Number 92) Ferrari 360 Modena GTC. He didn't complete the race due to mechanical issues.