Isn’t buying a car like a Ferrari F12 or Maserati Ghibli enough to show people that you have money? For some, it isn’t. To them, too much is not enough.
Chinese businessman Ni Haishan, who inherited a family business that makes bandages, wanted to show how well his company is doing by going on an unusual and destructive road trip through China in high-end automobiles. In his Ferrari F12 and in the company of his top 10 salesmen in the Maserati Ghiblis he gave them for their performance, Haishan attempted to cross the rough and treacherous 1,294-mile Sichuan-Tibet Highway.
As you can imagine, that didn’t exactly work out. Only six of the Italian exotics only completed half of the trek across streams and over punishing terrain. Tires were popped, rims were dented, vital fluids were spilled. One wheel’s studs were broken off of the car. The carnage is certainly enough for us to wish that Haishan had as much sense as he has dollars.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
