Pictured: Rush hour to crush hour ... the £330,000 supercar after smash with 18-wheel lorry

And it's a particularly bad day when that car is a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren costing £330,000.

A delivery driver for a supercar hire company had been gingerly navigating the flashy sports coupe to its destination in yesterday's rush-hour when disaster struck.

Oops: The wrecked Mercedes with £50,000 worth of damage after the smash

As he drove into Kensington, West London, there was an ear-piercing screech as the front of an 18-wheeler juggernaut first nudged then slowly tore away the front section of the rare model.

Jammed in the car  -  which can accelerate to 208mph, though not on this occasion  -  he could only sit helplessly as the bolts on the truck's wheels gnawed through the paintwork and splintered the carbon fibre wheel arch and bonnet.

There was a chorus of mocking horns from passing drivers before the police arrived and the car was lifted from the road by the sort of McLaren tow-truck usually seen only on a Formula One track.

The delivery driver, who refused to give his name, told the Mail: 'I am absolutely gutted.
'I was creeping along in this very narrow lane. The power steering was very hard at such low speed and I couldn't turn. I just saw the wheels of this truck looming over the side of the car.

'I could do nothing about it. The car body is made out of carbon fibre which is very tough, but when it goes, it goes completely.

'There must be at least £50,000 worth of damage there. I can't believe I was only two minutes from the drop-off.'

The driver is employed by a company which hires supercars by the day to rich clients.

The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is the most prestigious vehicle on its books.

The supercar had been on the way to last night's Salon Prive Luxury Supercar show at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham.

Engineers at the McLaren workshop in Weybridge, Surrey, who hand-build 500 of the cars a year, were yesterday working hard to get it repaired.