See? It WAS doomed.
March 12, 2006 10:18 PM   Subscribe

Fast cars, elderly terrorists, the swedish mafia, and video games. Remember the Gizmondo? So, let's just say that the swedish mafia decided to scam a bunch of investors by creating a largely imaginary game device. Pretty good plan, eh? Well, it is until you crash your rare, $1million Ferrari into the side of the road. But, don't worry, the anti-terrorist branch of your local elderly transport service will save you! Confused? Here's the flow chart.
posted by JZig (36 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
That's really amazing. Wow. I never knew the video game industry could be so shady.
posted by matkline at 10:25 PM on March 12, 2006


Heck, matkline, that's not the half of it.
posted by spazzm at 10:35 PM on March 12, 2006


Wow. I knew the video game industry could be, and often is, shady, but the Gizmondo story is just downright bizarre.
posted by cmonkey at 10:54 PM on March 12, 2006


Related discussion here. That flow chart is helpful, though.
posted by swordfishtrombones at 10:56 PM on March 12, 2006


Heh, yeah, this is sort of a double I guess. I came at it from the Gizmondo angle, and didn't get any MeFi hits on that other than the one I linked.
posted by JZig at 11:05 PM on March 12, 2006


Ok. That is not a flowchart, technically, it's an ontology.
posted by delmoi at 11:38 PM on March 12, 2006


How does the royal bank of scotland fit in, other then owing the two cars?
posted by delmoi at 11:39 PM on March 12, 2006


Eriksson's blood-alcohol level after the crash was .09, slightly more than the legal .08 limit, Brooks said. If it is determined he was the Ferrari driver, he could be charged with driving under the influence, reckless driving and providing false information to authorities, Brooks said.

LOL. After all this mystery, the guy will end up with pretty run of the mill charges. Heh.

Also, why did he agree to submit to a breath test? I suppose maybe he didn't think he was that drunk. A lot of research shows that 0.08 bac is not all that dangerous.
posted by delmoi at 11:42 PM on March 12, 2006


What a bunch of asshats.

Q: if they really are "swedish mafia," why are they not in jail in Sweden. People as stupid as these two are, are not people who operate the mafia. They are, at best, the asshats the mafia uses to avoid taking any risks of going to jail.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:59 PM on March 12, 2006


Why do you think they are stupid? They have successfully defrauded people of millions of dollars of money are driving Ferraris and own expensive yachts.
posted by insomnus at 12:12 AM on March 13, 2006


I don't know what's going on there, but it sure looks exciting!
posted by dantsea at 12:29 AM on March 13, 2006


That was much more interesting than I thought it was going to be. Good post. Bizarre.
posted by blacklite at 2:10 AM on March 13, 2006


I can't believe the original investors fell for this scam. The machine was hideously underpowered compared to it's competition and was always destined to fail. When it became clear just how much money was being syphoned off by the directors it was obvious to me that the directors had no real interest in ensuring that Gizmondo survived or not.
posted by salmacis at 2:28 AM on March 13, 2006


b1tr0t & fff - whilst Sweden doesn't have any "national" organised crime you might remember around 1996 when some of the biker gangs (Bandidos and Hells Angels IIRC) were involved in arguments over drug dealing territory. There were a number of shootouts, car bombs and grenade attacks as well as an instance of a shoulder fired anti-tank missile being used against a Hells Angels clubhouse.

Here we go (from Boston Globe, April 18th 1996) -

Copenhagen - Members of the Bandidos motorcycle gang fired antitank missiles at Hell's Angels yesterday, authorities said, as the biker's turf war intensifed. A shoulder-fired missile hit a Hell's Angels clubhouse in Snoldelev, 20 miles southwest of Copenhagen, shortly after midnight. There were no injuries, but an annex burned down and the main building was badly damaged.
"What we have seen tonight is just the start of the war," the Danish daily Extrabladet quoted a police officer as saying as he watched the complex burn. Four hours later a second missile smashed into a building used by Angels allies, the Avengers, in Aalborg, 88 miles away on the Jutland peninsula. Four gang members in the building were unhurt by the projectile, whch pieced one wall and burroweed into another without detonating, authorities said. The Bandidos' motto is "We are the people our parents warned us against." Police and military investigators said that the missiles used in both attacks were from 12 stolen in February 1994 from a military arsenal near Malmo, Sweden. Missiles from the Malmo robbery have been matched to an attack last year against Hell's Angels allies in Finland. Hell's Angels have been battling Bandidos in Scandinavia for several years. The latest violence flared last month with the killing of a local Bandidos leader, Uffe Larsen, in an ambush at the Copenhagen airport.


Walt & Co. had best be careful...
posted by longbaugh at 4:38 AM on March 13, 2006


I can't believe the original investors fell for this scam.

Can you believe banks and financial institutions convinced people(=investors) to buy into the dot.com fiasco ? They DID and profited nicely from that.

So when you see some fat cat working in finance, feel free to take back some of the money they stole you by overevaluating companies, cooking books etc.
posted by elpapacito at 4:40 AM on March 13, 2006


I'm almost sorry I didn't take the opportunity to scam a bunch of people back then too. It certainly seems that the bar was set pretty low...
posted by clevershark at 6:05 AM on March 13, 2006


This post is awesome.
posted by dougunderscorenelso at 6:56 AM on March 13, 2006


poor car :(
posted by ryanrs at 7:03 AM on March 13, 2006


I kept seeing the "$1million Ferrari" and thinking, nah, I don't think it cost that much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_Enzo_Ferrari

List price is/was $640k. I suppose he could have paid $1mil for it, though. It's a rare car.
posted by MjrMjr at 7:12 AM on March 13, 2006


A wreck at 165 mph that "left a streak of debris as long as a football field" yet "both men emerged relatively unhurt, though Eriksson suffered a cut lip". There's some good engineering.
posted by Mitheral at 7:25 AM on March 13, 2006


List price is/was $640k.
Does it really matter that much whether it cost a full million or only $640k? That's still 40 times more than my little $16K car.
posted by octothorpe at 7:27 AM on March 13, 2006


Oh thats right. Rub it in. Thats 1,000 times more expensive than my car.
posted by zach4000 at 7:31 AM on March 13, 2006


zach4000 - I hope you mean the $640k car and not octothorpe's $16k car because if your car cost just $16 I don't hold out much hope for it's condition or roadworthiness.
posted by longbaugh at 8:05 AM on March 13, 2006


What about Colonel Sanders, and his wee beady eyes?
posted by blue_beetle at 8:13 AM on March 13, 2006


According to the Ironic Times, Cheney was driving.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:04 AM on March 13, 2006


From the wikipedia link:

The car, chassis #ZFFCZ56B000141920, was auctioned by Sotheby's Maranello Auction on June 28, 2005 to benefit survivors of the 2004 Tsunami for €950,000 (US$1,274,229) over 50% more than its list price

If another one was sold today, it would probably fetch a similar price.
posted by delmoi at 9:20 AM on March 13, 2006


Here's some additional really good coverage from Wrecked Exotics.com. Including this great overhead shot showing how much distance was covered after the impact. He said 'over 100 mph. Cops figured closer to 160 mph. You figure it out.
posted by mk1gti at 9:59 AM on March 13, 2006


List price is/was $640k. I suppose he could have paid $1mil for it, though. It's a rare car.

$640k ought to be enough for anyone.
posted by Foosnark at 10:13 AM on March 13, 2006


Wow, that overhead shot mk1gti posted is awesome.

And Foosnark, that was very clever.
posted by crawl at 10:47 AM on March 13, 2006


List price is/was $640k.

It's $1M with rustproofing and floor mats.
posted by tiny purple fishes at 10:49 AM on March 13, 2006


I know, the overhead shot really puts it into perspective about how fast that guy was really going. Imagine a plane crashing onto a highway and it would look similar to that. . .
posted by mk1gti at 11:20 AM on March 13, 2006


Well, I hope he has better luck next time. We don't need asshats like that around our world.
posted by five fresh fish at 12:17 PM on March 13, 2006


All the Enzos have been sold. They are rare and desirable. They'll cost a million dollars easy.

I bet McLaren F1s cost alot more than original book price now.
posted by 13twelve at 4:06 PM on March 13, 2006


I think Model T fords cost more than the list price too. Also, Sweden is such a small ountry, isn't it plausible that all the events were only related by chance? Nah, didn't think so either.
posted by Suparnova at 11:08 PM on March 13, 2006


Strangely enough the Jaguar XJ220 is decently priced now - originally priced at more than $600,000 I've seen one in the USA selling at $150,000 which is incredible value for that much performance.
posted by longbaugh at 2:11 AM on March 14, 2006


The $600k price was after all the furore about the lack of v12 and 4wd died down - don't forget the Metro 6R4 derived engine actually generated higher bhp and torque than the planned V12 (despite some pants turbo lag). The XJ220 is a whole lot more car than many modern supercars in much the same way that the F40 is probably better in most respects than other more up to date vehicles.
posted by longbaugh at 1:31 PM on March 14, 2006


« Older Google Maps now on Mars.   |   Liberal Capitalism and Evil Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments