A millionaire property developer who sued for more than £2 million after his limited edition McLaren P1 burst into flames has had his case thrown out by a High Court judge.
David Kyte sustained head and face burns when the car, which he had paid over £1 million for, caught fire on a road near Heathrow Airport in October 2017. The 903-horsepower, 217mph vehicle was a total loss.
Mr Kyte launched a £2.1 million damages claim against McLaren Automotive Limited and Stratstone Sports Cars Limited, blaming the former for rebuilding the car after an earlier accident and the latter for service and maintenance work. However, Mr Justice Eyre struck out the claim, ruling that Mr Kyte had failed to properly particularise his allegations, some of which were 'hopelessly vague.'
The judge noted that Mr Kyte needed to identify a relevant defect and explain how it caused the fire, and how the companies' actions led to that defect. He said it was not enough to simply plead a potential cause for the fire.
Given that proceedings began two years ago, and over eight years have passed since the fire, the judge concluded it was too late for Mr Kyte to advance a properly particularised claim, and the case was struck out.
