Impounded $235K Ferrari to be sold

A $235,000 Ferrari that was seized by North Vancouver RCMP for street racing has become the most valuable vehicle forfeited to the province.

But while the government is selling off the valuable sports car under the province'scivil forfeiture laws,the owner and the driver still stand to get back 80 per cent of the cash from the sale.

The blue 2008 Ferrari Scuderia was stopped by police on Sept. 25 racing up Mount Seymour with a BMW M6 in close pursuit. Both vehicles were travelling at an estimated speed of 200 km/h in a 60 km/h zone, according to police.

After the vehicles narrowly missed a woman and her two children, they were stopped and impounded by the RCMP. The drivers were given 15-day driving bans, and the government and the RCMP then seized the vehicles under the B.C.'s civil forfeiture laws.

"The kind of driving our member witnessed warranted a much more serious response than a ticket and temporary impoundment, and civil forfeiture allowed for that response," said North Vancouver RCMP Supt. Tonia Enger, in statement released by the government.

Government nets $100,000 in sale

On Tuesday the government announced it plans to sell the Ferrari to a dealership for $235,000, with 50 per cent of the cash from the sale going to the owner of the vehicle, who was not driving it at the time, 30 per cent going to the driver, and 20 per cent to the government.

The BMW will also be auctioned off under similar terms, with government expecting to recover a total of $100,000 from the sale of both vehicles, after expenses are covered.

"This is why the provincial government strengthened our civil forfeiture law a couple of years ago," Coleman said in the statement.

"When a vehicle has killed or injured someone, it's too late," he said. "Our laws now work to take vehicles away from reckless drivers before they hurt someone, because they are demonstrating no regard for the safety of themselves or others on our roads."