• Gone in less than 60 seconds: 11 luxury sports cars wrecked in expensive pileup

    The Associated Press reports from TOKYO:

     An outing of luxury sportscar enthusiasts in Japan ended in an expensive freeway pileup — smashing a stunning eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and two Mercedes likely worth more than $1 million together.

    Kyodo News via Reuters

    Police officers investigate wrecked luxury cars at the site of a traffic accident in Shimonoseki on Dec. 4, 2011.

    Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP - Getty Images

    Damaged Ferrari sports cars along a stretch of the Chugoku highway following a 14-vehicle pile-up on Dec. 4, 2011.

    Police say they believe the accident Sunday was touched off when the driver of one of the Ferraris tried to change lanes and hit the median barrier. He spun across the freeway, and the other cars collided while trying to avoid hitting his car.

    Video of the crash aired by NTV, a major national network, showed several smashed, bright red Ferraris cluttering the freeway.

    No one was seriously injured, but police in Yamaguchi prefecture said 10 people were treated for bruises and cuts. Police say 14 cars were involved altogether. Read the full story.

    AP

    Police officers investigate damaged Ferrari cars at the site of a traffic accident on the Chugoku Expressway in Shimonoseki, Japan, Dec. 4. Thirteen sports cars, including eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and two Mercedes-Benz, were involved in the accident, slightly injuring 10 people.

    Kyodo News / AP

    Police officers investigate damaged luxury cars at the site of a traffic accident on the Chugoku Expressway in Shimonoseki, Japan, Dec. 4.

    Traffic police spokesman Mitsuyoshi Isejima called the event "a gathering of narcissists," according to Bloomberg.  He said the drivers were aged between 37 and 60 years old.

    A highway in Japan is littered with smashed luxury cars and their parts after eight Ferraris, two Mercedes and a Lamborghini collide en route to a car show. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.

    Related content: Even the crashes are stylish - Million-dollar wreck in Monaco.

     

  • Jason Lee / Reuters

    A guide looks in from the entrance of a hall for a Louis Vuitton Voyages exhibition at the National Museum of China in Beijing on May 31. Luxury goods makers may boast familiarity with China, but the pace of change in the world's fastest-growing country still startles them. The world's biggest luxury market within five years has become a second home for brands that tap Chinese appetite for fast super sports cars, 10,000-euro ($14,060) handbags and diamonds.

    Luxury manufacturers flock to China's new wealth

    More on this trend: Burberry celebrates China as Beijing downgrades luxury

    and another story on China's super rich propelling luxury yacht sales.

  • Paul Hilton / EPA

    Activists from the Hong Kong Shark Foundation pose for three minutes at Time Square in Hong Kong, China, on Oct. 9. The Hong Kong Shark Foundation is calling for Hong Kong's Chief Executive Donald Tsang to remove shark fin soup from all official government functions. Around 73 million sharks are killed each year for their fins to satisfy Asian demand for the infamous luxury culinary dish.

    Sharks circled

    I remember my grandmother's tale of eating both shark fin soup and bird's nest soup when she visited Hong Kong in the mid 80s. Being of a generation that mostly didn't consider ecological impact, I'm sure she wasn't fazed by sampling the delicacies and wasn't aware of how the meals came to her table. Although neither sounds particularly appealing to me, bird's nest soup at one point was more ecologically friendly than shark fin soup which is the product of the slaughter of sharks, as nests were traditionally harvested after fledglings departed. However, with money always being a factor, farming of the bird nests has become a lucrative business. Birds build a nest, and it is then harvested before eggs are laid. The birds then build another nest to accommodate eggs, and many nests are now taken either before either the eggs can hatch or before fledglings can leave the nest which has led to a decline in the swiftlet population. Both kinds of soup can fetch up to $100 per bowl.