We saw it with the brand new C7 Corvettes, and even found a couple pictures of a media-loaner Hellcat that sustained some damage. But now we have word that the first Hellcat to be totaled has happened, sadly. We hear that the driver and two passengers are okay, but the Hellcat didn’t survive this impact very well.

Our friend Matt Kearney found the picture on an SRT Facebook page and shared with us that this car had just left the lot an hour earlier – and then this terrible accident occurred on Riverdale Road in Colorado. The Hellcat suffered enough damage that it doesn’t look like the motor is going to be salvageable, and the car will likely end up at an auction for totaled vehicles.

This brings up a good point about buying cars like this that have a bit of a markup, gap insurance would be a very good idea. Gap insurance basically picks up the gap between the value of the car and the price it would cost to replace it. In this case, the car may have been marked up as much as $15-20k, meaning if there is no gap insurance the car owner may be out of luck.

We believe this may have been the car that was at the dealership in Colorado. Photo: Anthony Borders

A reader, Anthony Borders, spotted a Hellcat at the dealership recently and believes it may be the one that wrecked. Another reader, Bradley Nagel, was kind enough to get some pictures of the Hellcat at a wrecking yard. He couldn’t get much closer it seems, but the car looks like it’s hurting pretty bad. Some are wondering what might be salvageable from this 707 horsepower beast, it looks like the engine might not have survived. The core support is pushed in pretty far, and we know that things are pretty tight up in front.

Yet another reader has gone to the scene to get some pictures and collect a few mementos from the site. Michael Clark shows us where the skid marks are, and it appears that on a curve the driver lost control and slammed into a tree. It doesn’t seem like another vehicle was involved, so we may have to chalk this one up to driver error. It appears from the skid marks that he lost control coming over a slight crest, then over corrected and dropped a tire off the pavement, sending him head-on into the tree.

We hate seeing things like this, and we’re glad the occupants are okay, but it just might go to show that sometimes money spent is not money spent wisely. If you don’t know how to handle the car, it might be good to take it easy until you can. We drove one for a week, so we’re well aware of the kind of power this car possesses.

If you have any information, please share it with us so we can share it with the rest of our readers. Be safe this holiday season, everyone!

In Google maps you can see the location in the road, including the sign that states “Please Drive Safely” as two other motorists have died at that same location.

SECOND UPDATE:

According to a police report from the Colorado State Patrol, the car’s owner was 34-year-old Lance Utley of Winter Park, Colorado, and he was traveling on Riverdale Road when he lost control and overcorrected (as evidenced by the skid marks in the photos above, and hit the tree. There were two other occupants who were also unhurt, Utley was cited with careless driving. They didn’t mention drugs, alcohol, or excessive speeding, however, it does seem that a little showing off was going on… because Hellcat!