Lamborghini flown from Qatar to London and back... for an oil change
In a virtual slap to the face of eco-friendly drivers worldwide, a wealthy Sheikh went to the trouble of shipping his oddly-hued Lamborghini from Qatar to London and back... for an oil change. That is 3,250 miles each way, or about the total distance likely traveled between oil changes in the first place. It's bad enough that the Lambo LP640 is a high carbon-emitter in the first place, but this act truly shows utter disregard for the environment. The shipping companies seemed to agree, with an airport worker saying, "This car doesn't have a carbon footprint – more of a crater." A London-Heathrow cargo handler added, "It would have been far more efficient to fly mechanics out there."
It could be that these things happen more often than the public knows, as David Price of Lamborghini Club UK says: "If an owner wants to service his car in that way, it is his choice. I'm not surprised. Thankfully the age of excess in some areas continues." Lamborghini UK spokeswoman Juliet Jarvis says, "This sort of thing is not unheard of." Perhaps that's true, but it certainly should be unheard of. Coming from Qatar, the wealth which made this purchase possible, along with the ridiculous $46,644 USD is cost to ship, likely comes from oil in the first place, making this story truly come full circle.
[Source: The Sun]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mel 7:20PM (7/31/2008)
Just look at the car, it litteraly screams I AM WITH STUPID from the color scheme, so what else would you expect
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a.brien 7:41PM (7/31/2008)
He should switch to synthetic motor oil of 20-50 grade good in hot climate and it last longer. If he can't change his oil himself or at the local garage it must be because it is a dry sump and it's a little bit more complicated. Maybe he bought this car in london when he was visiting and he was drunk and the dealership insisted to inspect the car regurlarly at the expence of the owner for garantee reasons. It would be good to inspect carrefully the transmission and clutch, easilly broken by bad driver and the dealership can re-programm the car to lose some 100-200 h.p
for garantee reason once again.
Finnaly cars must be empty in oil and gas when taken by plane for security reason, so this article is maybe wrong in some place. It must be a mechanical check-up.
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Crosius 7:51PM (7/31/2008)
On the one hand, I do try and support the idea that a person should be able to spend their own money however they wish.
On the other hand, this person is spending his money to ruin the environment, which is a common property. I'd think there might be grounds to curtail this sort of behaviour under some laws protecting the commons from such wasteful misuse.
I think the only hope is for this sort of behaviour to be met with disgust by members of polite society -- like discovering that the person has an extensive collection of scatalogical pornography or enjoys torturing small animals. Hopefully, shame and the condemnation of one's peers can act to eliminate this kind of wanton disregard for environmental effect.
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Will 11:53AM (8/01/2008)
Other than being stupid and expensive, this sort of thing happens so infrequently that there is negligible environmental impact. Wal-Mart demanding less packaging for the products it ships and sells has more impact than the exotic auto industry has combined.
noz 9:14PM (7/31/2008)
All that money and they are still lowlifes....bottom of the barrel.
Think how much good the money they have good bring to people, the environment, animals, whatever....
Real shame.
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Chris M 9:55PM (7/31/2008)
Champion stupid in so many ways!
Shipping it that way risks damage, and that stupid sheik was without his Lambo for the time it took to ship it there and back. He could have flown an entire repair crew to Qatar and a lifetime supply of the finest lube for less than the shipping cost for the car.
Finally, there should be a really good Lambo garage in that ultra-rich nation - if not, build one!
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Hans Wurst 10:09PM (7/31/2008)
"[Source: The Sun]" says it all 8oP
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stevefazek 10:36PM (7/31/2008)
I am so debated about the UAE. Yeah they have tons of money and haven't been chopping each others heads off for 30 years now!!!!.
They don't rely on oil that much for money but now these days in international investment. Most of the sheiks and what not their wealth dates back to the freaking spice trade which is insane.
The rate of which they are blowing money is insane. Look at Dubai its a freaking ghost city none of those buildings are even remotely near capacity yet they keep filling up.
I guess they are hoping they will become the world trade center for europe and asia since they are around half way.
It could either work out or fail big time. Then again those buildings cost a fraction of what they would cost to buildin the US or europe.
1)In a desolate wasteland real estate isn't that much.
2)They already own all the land since they are basically kings
3)Slave labor is amazingly cheap. After all when you take someones passport pay them 3 bucks a day and tell them you will get killed if you make much fuss its amazing what you can do to keep labor prices down.
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Andrew 10:01PM (8/02/2008)
Qatar is not in the UAE. Qatar is a emirate, but is an independent nation.
This guy is awesome! I love it for the fact it pisses off all enviro-quacks.
tankd0g 10:46PM (7/31/2008)
My view on this is pretty simple. That plane was likely flying the route with out without the car. The space in the hold might have gone empty but it might have been filled with an equal weight of camel meat. Either way, it's no hippy love in, planes pollute and there's no serial hybrid plane on the horizon. So if the guy wants to hand all that money back to the west, I say thank you very much.
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stevefazek 11:41PM (7/31/2008)
i dont think it cost 45grand to ship that car.
Airfreight runs around 4 bucks a kilo.
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Mark Kiernan 5:49AM (8/01/2008)
People who drive Lamborghini may have some money but they really lack something else, which all men are born with.
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Phil L. 8:16AM (8/01/2008)
stevefazek -
A car isn't air freight. You can't stack it in the aircraft's hold along with other boxes. It needs it's own area, with extra gear to secure it and prevent damage. It requires special equipment to load and unload, along with extra people. Cars aren't commonly shipping via air, so it generates extra documentation and uses different procedures.
I'm not at all surprised it costs far more than a standard freight rate.
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Whopper 8:53AM (8/01/2008)
It is a normal human reaction to resent conspicuous consumption, but it has been going on for ages. Give a redneck a million bucks and he'll buy a bigger double wide and bass boat. The rich bought Dusenbergs 70 years ago and now they buy Ferraris and Lambos.
They only build about 600 Lambos a year so what's the big deal?
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LetThemSpend 3:04PM (8/01/2008)
I think it's great that these people spend money on frivolous things.
Think about it. If this sheikh spends his money on things that do not make him more wealthy, that puts money in the hands of Lamborghini and its workers and suppliers. It does not increase the power and influence of this man as much as if he had invested the same amount of money in a business venture with an actual return on investment.
Now, it may be a drop in the bucket relative to his wealth, but I don't see much of a problem with legitimate ways to separate the frivolous from their money.
Kyle 6:56PM (10/01/2008)
This guy discusts me.
This is why I hate the middle east and their oil sheiks.
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GC 9:54PM (8/01/2008)
Let's see...
His car - check.
His money, not asking the taxpayer for a subsidy - check
No use of physical force or torture - check.
None of our business - CHECK!
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Don 12:13PM (8/10/2008)
HA! I dont normally buy newspapers, but after i saw that article on the Sun, I HAD to buy it... I just love the fact that it PISSES off so many people, IDIOT people...
Its HIS money - not begging everyone like Mr M.P doing on petrol prices, BIN Tickets or whatever its calles, and so on.....
its HIS car - its NOT a ford focus.. ITS A LP640
its HIS problem - not Mr editor's problem of Sun
What happens when SO MANY people bring their cars with them to the UK for holidays?? Ive seen Lambo, ferrari, even Veyron with arab plates.
and also, wots he doing against the environment??
paying his money?? or being extra load on the plane, thus using more fuel??
If its using more fuel, Y dont people stop using plane??
Y everyone dont fuckin stay in their fuckin countries all the time??
NOBODY who cares about the environment should not go on holidays abroad then???
Or is someone gettin jealous of the guy's wealth??
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