A biker caused nearly £50,000 worth of damage to a rare classic car by veering across the road and crashing head-on into it, a court has heard.
Bhupinder Lalli was driving a huge Harley Davidson motorbike – weighing nearly half a ton – when he smashed into a lawyer’s £150,000 Jaguar E-Type.
The court heard he caused so much damage to the car – described by Enzo Ferrari as “the most beautiful car ever made” – it took nine months to rebuild.
It also heard Lalli – despite being thrown from the bike and injured – was able to sit up and apologise to the owner for mangling his “lovely” car.
Lalli admits the crash happened but denies dangerous driving.
The crash
Solicitor Nicholas Whyte told a trial at Perth Sheriff Court he and wife Helen had gone out for a drive in his beloved 55-year-old Jaguar when the accident happened in rural Perthshire.
Mr Whyte, 71, senior partner in Forfar-based MacHardy, Alexander & Whyte, said he had to swerve to avoid one motorbike, shortly before Lalli’s £27,000 Harley Davidson followed it at speed round a bend.
“We swerved on to the grass verge.
“Another motorcycle came round.
“I got the impression it was going extremely fast and wholly on the wrong side of the road.
“I would say it was out of control.
“It took fractions of a second, almost instantaneous.
“It collided with the front nearside of my car.
“If my car was not there it would have gone straight through the fence and down the embankment.
“The impact was such that the car stopped instantly.”
The impact
He said: “I was expecting to find a very seriously injured, or worse, motorcyclist.
“I found the motorcyclist sitting next to his motorbike.
“He had an injury to his nose and was in a state of shock.
“He said he was very sorry and said ‘it was all my fault’.
“He was particularly sorry about the car.
“He made a comment along the lines of it being ‘such a lovely car to be damaged’.
“It caused substantial damage.
“The person who looks after my car, when he saw it, said he had never seen damage like that to an E-Type other than a racing incident on a racetrack.
“It was extremely expensive [to repair].
“It was in the region of £46,000 – £48,000.
“It was not a car, because of its age and value, that you would take risks with.”
Injuries
Mrs Whyte, 71, said: “First of all we had to brake as a very fast motorbike came round the corner.
“It made us slow down and I think we went on to the verge.
“The next bike came round incredibly quickly after the first one.
“I just saw this bike coming towards us.
“It was on the wrong side of the road.
“It was going very, very fast. It was horrendous, very frightening.
“It came straight across the road and landed on our bonnet.”
She told the court she had suffered a suspected broken sternum and ribs but had made a full recovery.
Case continued
Solicitor Steven Farmer, defending, said: “My client is not disputing he was on the wrong side of the road and he is not disputing he was in collision with your car.”
Lalli, 51, Broompark Drive, Newton Mearns, denies driving dangerously on the A93 Blairgowrie to Braemar road, near Spittal of Glenshee, on September 6, 2020.
He denies repeatedly driving at excessive speed and on the wrong side of the road around blind bends, colliding with the car, and injuring himself and Mrs Whyte.
The Crown has closed its case and the trial, before Sheriff Richard MacFarlane, will resume next month.
The Jaguar E-type was produced between 1961 and 1975 and quickly became an established icon of the motoring world thanks to its combination of strong looks and high performance.
The series 1 cars were produced between 1961 and 1968 and are by far the most valuable and desirable, and fully restored versions of the 1967 model can fetch upwards of £150,000.
