Screenshot : SpeedTimers on Instagram

It’s not clear if notorious supercar street racer @bc was at the wheel of his blue Gemballa Mirage GT, a tuned Porsche Carrera GT, if such a thing was necessary, at the time it ran wild on the virus-cleared streets of Manhattan. What is clear is the driver was completely off the rails. (Update: He did it.)


Anyone who has taken any drive in the city during the coronavirus shutdown can’t help but idly dream of running the empty streets. Even non-car people were talking to me about pulling an Afroduck.

But there has never been as good an advertisement for staying at home than whoever crashed and re-crashed this Gemballa.


From Fox5:

A driver, in what was believed to be a pricy stolen sports car, smashed into several vehicles on the Hell’s Kitchen section of Manhattan before being stopped at 11th Ave. and 44th St. (See photos below) A trail of damaged vehicles was left behind along 11th Ave. north of the Javits Center, which is being used as a makeshift hospital amid the coronavirus outbreak in the city.﻿



Supercar instagram was quick to clown on the car, as spotted by Jalopnik contributor Ken Saito. Some of that damage can be seen in this video:




You can see more of the car getting wrecked on IG stories at Race Rally Media, which was showing a whole supercar rally visiting NYC the other day, as well as on the similar Live Life Media stories.

This car is owned by @bc, somewhat of a notorious supercar owner here in New York City. It’s not particularly hard to figure out who owns this car as it’s an exceedingly controversial and rare version of an already controversial and rare car. The info popped up on Exclusive Car Registry, made easier because supercar owners can’t help but put custom plates on their cars. A mistake, as always.


While Fox5 and many commenters on Instagram are suggesting the car is stolen, this is exactly the kind of thing @bc would do. He’s crashed supercars before and even I remembered that he street raced his Veyron some years ago. Jalopnik has seen a video of the driver behind the wheel, as well as other screenshots on Instagram claiming that it’s @bc.


God knows if we’ll ever get a confirmation, but if you know anything please write us at tips at jalopnik dot com.

Update: 1:12 EST via our colleagues at Road & Track: The NYPD says the car wasn’t stolen, and that the owner was the driver:

The owner of the car was arrested following the series of crashes, a New York Police Department spokesperson confirmed to Road & Track. Police said the car was not stolen, but was being operated by its owner. Charges are currently pending. Though police have not yet identified the owner, this appears to be the same Gemballa Mirage GT owned by GoldRush Rally co-founder Benjamin Chen. ﻿




Update again via R&T: Bro got DUI and reckless driving charges:

The owner of the car, Benjamin Chen, was arrested following the series of crashes around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, a New York Police Department spokesperson confirmed to Road & Track. Police said the car was not stolen, but was being operated by Chen when the incident occurred. He’s been charged with operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs and reckless driving. ﻿




We’ll keep updating as we get more information.