Updated on October 31, 2018
NEW L.A. TREND: “CELEBRATION OF MILES” FOR DECEASED CARS
“She was only three years old,” said 37-year-old Serge Merkle ruefully. “She didn’t even have a chance to leak any oil.”
On a sunny, warm Los Angeles day, Merkle hosted a celebration of miles for his 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia, which, according to technicians, passed due to complications from a malformed crankshaft.
Serge Merkle pauses next to his deceased Ferrari |
Such celebrations of miles are becoming more and more common in car-centric Southern California.
Moeber Wasco, 48, of Rancho Pico de Gallo, who recently lost his 2013 Porsche Boxster to a parking lot collision with a runaway Hyster forklift, said the celebration of miles was cathartic.
“It was wonderful. We relived so many memories, like the day we bought her…and lowering the top and motoring down a winding road on a beautiful spring afternoon. Even my mechanic and all his kids I put through college were there.”