A Ferrari 599 GTO owner was likely nonplussed when he learned that a valet parking attendant smashed his $500,000 supercar->ke177 into a storefront in Rome. The valet claims he got confused and stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake, unleashing all 670 of 6.0-liter V12’s horsepower. He also told police he was befuddled by the car’s paddle-shift-operated transmission, but you don’t need to be Sebastian Vettel to know how this stuff works. Even Volkswagen Golfs->ke164 have paddles behind the wheel these days.

The owner was waiting at the Hotel Exedra with his wife and had driven from the Netherlands to attend a Ferrari Owner’s Club meeting in the town Anzio, just south of Rome. Only 599 examples of the 599 GT0 were ever built. Now there appears to be one fewer, because this looks like a write-off.

Continue reading to learn more about the Ferrari 599 GTO.

Why it matters

As a former valet of nine years, I can tell you that accidents do sometimes happen, but this valet’s story sounds dubious at best. Being a valet is sort of like making sausage. Once you see how it’s done you’ll never eat it again. Like any job, it only takes a few boneheads to ruin it for everyone else. I witnessed valets drifting through parking decks, doing donuts and generally having zero respect for other peoples’ property.

Newer (usually young) valets were almost always the culprits in these situations. A lack of respect (and skill) combined with suddenly being put behind the wheels of powerful cars they could never afford seemed to be the contributing factors when accidents happened. And when they did, the excuse was always something along the lines of “Uh… I got the gas and brake confused.” I can’t say for sure if this Italian guy was driving irresponsibly, but his story sounds a little too familiar.

I got to drive some pretty amazing cars, but I also think my knowledge of them (mainly how much they cost) gave me a respect other valets didn’t have. Plus, and I know it’s weird to say, after doing it for as long as I did, a Porsche or Ferrari became just another car. I was way more excited about Buick Grand National GNX I got to (respectfully) drive toward the end of my career.

Not all valets are bad, far from it. Unfortunately its impossible to tell the good ones from the bad ones when you’re leaving the second biggest investment of your life with a total stranger.

Ferrari 599 GTO