A man who took a Ferrari on a test drive from a car dealership in Maranello, Italy has narrowly avoided disaster thanks to some quick thinking and skilful driving.
Eduardo Freitas was taking a Ferrari F430 for a spin and wanted to see what the supercar was really capable of. Accompanied by a car salesman, Mr Freitas was hurtling down the road at high speed when he was suddenly confronted by slow traffic - with no time to brake he swerved out the way only to come face to face with another car on the other side of the road, which he again narrowly dodged before getting the vehicle back under control.
Motorists will always want to put a potential purchase through its paces when out on a test drive, which is why a dealership must have demonstration cover as part of its combined motor trade insurance policy. This will provide insurance for the car while it is being test driven, although it will only be valid if the customer has produced their driver's licence and is accompanied by a member of staff.
A video of Mr Freitas' almost catastrophic test drive - which is purportedly filmed himself - has since been uploaded onto YouTube and gone viral, amassing almost a million views in less than a month. The footage shows how after the double near miss Mr Freitas and the car salesman breathe a heavy sigh of relief before laughing and shaking hands.
A new F430 cost around £117,000 at launch. You can watch the 27-second viral YouTube video here.
