A LaFerrari is supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime machine. This one has lived two lives and nearly lost both of them in the same city. On an elevated road in Shanghai, a yellow Ferrari LaFerrari came to rest against a roadside structure after a violent single-car accident, bringing traffic and attention to a halt. The crash happened on the evening of February 2, 2026, and within minutes, videos were circulating across Chinese social media showing a sight that felt eerily familiar to longtime car watchers in the country. A LaFerrari, badly broken, wheels twisted to where they should not be.
According to local reports, the incident involved no other vehicles and no injuries. It was described as a loss-of-control accident in which the car struck the road base with significant force. The front right corner of the car appears to have taken the initial hit, destroying the bumper, splitter, wheel, and suspension. The rear damage is more unsettling. At least one wheel sits at a visibly unnatural angle, suggesting serious failure in the suspension or hub area. Tencent’s news summary describes the car’s condition as “not optimistic,” estimating losses close to a million Yuan (about $140,000) even before a formal assessment.
What makes this crash different is not just the cost or the rarity of the car. It is about this particular hypercar’s history. Chinese car media are nearly unanimous that it is the same LaFerrari first wrecked in Shanghai 10 years ago by esports and investment tycoon Qin Fen. In April 2015, a red LaFerrari aquaplaned on a rain-soaked elevated highway during a nighttime thunderstorm and slammed into the barrier. Images of that crash became legendary, with the rear wheel bent out of shape and the car quickly labeled Asia’s first LaFerrari accident. Ferrari’s reported repair estimate at the time, roughly 10 million RMB (roughly $1.4 million), turned the incident into a national talking point. After all, it was believed to be the highest single-car accident bill in China.
That car was not written off. It was shipped back to Italy, rebuilt by Ferrari, and later repainted yellow. Over the years, it quietly changed hands, moving through owners in Zhejiang and Beijing, briefly wearing a white wrap before returning to yellow. A detailed ownership piece published in 2020 traced the chassis through these changes and noted a crucial detail that never disappeared. The interior remained red, and the steering wheel still carried a small plaque engraved with “KING,” Qin Fen’s online handle.
A familiar wreck
That tiny plaque is one of the reasons enthusiasts are confident this 2026 crash involves the same chassis. Recent reports explicitly connect the dots, describing the car as the LaFerrari rebuilt after Qin Fen’s 2015 accident and later sold multiple times. While no credible source suggests Qin Fen still owns the car, and Chinese outlets carefully avoid naming the current owner, the lineage itself is unusually well-documented for a hypercar.
As for why it crashed this time, the reporting is cautious. There is no mention of weather, mechanical failure, or another vehicle. Unlike the 2015 crash, where aquaplaning in heavy rain was clearly cited, the 2026 incident has no officially stated cause yet. The repair costs may be brutal. Serious structural damage involving carbon fiber and suspension components often requires factory-level repairs in Italy, along with costly transport and labor. With damage visible at both the front and rear, many observers believe the repair bill could again approach the 10 million RMB mark, or push the car into a gray zone where restoration no longer makes financial sense.
It is exceptionally rare to track a single LaFerrari chassis through two major, headline-making crashes in the same city, a decade apart. The first accident made history. The second cements this car’s strange legacy. Rebuilt, resold, and broken again, it stands as a reminder that even the most exalted machines carry scars, and that some stories follow a car no matter how many times it is rebuilt.
