Photo: TheAthletic.com
Some firsts you can never forget: the first kiss, the first job, the first car, the first big, life-changing decision, the first Lamborghini totaled. Michail Antonio knows a lot about that last one.
On Christmas day 2019, Santa had something extra special in store for Michail Antonio, the West Ham United forward whose estimated net worth sits at around $22 million. He was traveling through Balham, south London, UK, when he crashed his car through a fence and into someone’s garden, and into the shed.
The crash made international headlines at the time, and not just because he was driving a Lamborghini Huracan Performante. Antonio was dressed as a snowman and, right after asserting that he hadn’t been hurt, he started confiscating all the phones of the people that had gathered to check on him and, as expected, documented the sight of a Lambo crashed into someone’s garden.
Until now, the football star has never talked about the one-vehicle crash that totaled his rare and much-loved car, as he describes it. He does so on the latest On the Judy Podcast, which you can also find embedded below: the 2019 crash talk is right at the start of the podcast.
Antonio says that he wasn’t speeding by much, that he was maybe doing 35 mph (56 kph) on a 30 mph (48 mph) road, but it was slippery with ice. Rounding a corner without slowing down, the Lambo skidded, and he panicked, hitting the brakes. That sent the car over the curb and smack into someone’s garden, and Antonio kept thinking it would blow up when he saw “smoke” coming out from the front after the airbags deployed.
“Still to this day it has hurt me. I miss that car,” he says, adding how it was a rare car that’s hard to replace.
In addition to the heartbreak, he also has to live with the financial consequences of the crash – an increased insurance premium, to be more specific. Antonio says he’s had to get a specialist company so he’d able to get insurance again and get back on the road.
“No-one wanted to insure me,” he explains. “I've got a G 63 now. They were offering me £10,000 [$13,722] for an A3 to insure, or get a G63 and pay double the price but get to drive a G63 instead of an A3. I'd rather pay £20,000 [$27,445] and drive a G63 rather than pay £10,000 and drive an A3.”
The crash made international headlines at the time, and not just because he was driving a Lamborghini Huracan Performante. Antonio was dressed as a snowman and, right after asserting that he hadn’t been hurt, he started confiscating all the phones of the people that had gathered to check on him and, as expected, documented the sight of a Lambo crashed into someone’s garden.
Until now, the football star has never talked about the one-vehicle crash that totaled his rare and much-loved car, as he describes it. He does so on the latest On the Judy Podcast, which you can also find embedded below: the 2019 crash talk is right at the start of the podcast.
Antonio says that he wasn’t speeding by much, that he was maybe doing 35 mph (56 kph) on a 30 mph (48 mph) road, but it was slippery with ice. Rounding a corner without slowing down, the Lambo skidded, and he panicked, hitting the brakes. That sent the car over the curb and smack into someone’s garden, and Antonio kept thinking it would blow up when he saw “smoke” coming out from the front after the airbags deployed.
“Still to this day it has hurt me. I miss that car,” he says, adding how it was a rare car that’s hard to replace.
In addition to the heartbreak, he also has to live with the financial consequences of the crash – an increased insurance premium, to be more specific. Antonio says he’s had to get a specialist company so he’d able to get insurance again and get back on the road.
“No-one wanted to insure me,” he explains. “I've got a G 63 now. They were offering me £10,000 [$13,722] for an A3 to insure, or get a G63 and pay double the price but get to drive a G63 instead of an A3. I'd rather pay £20,000 [$27,445] and drive a G63 rather than pay £10,000 and drive an A3.”
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