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Coming back from the Texas Cobra Club spring meet in San Marcos, I was on I 10 doing 70. The 315's in the back were almost bald. It starts raining, hard and fast. I'm slowing on the verge of hydroplaning, but then the pavement changes from a well exposed aggregate to fresh, smooth asphalt that looked like glass. It seemed to take forever to slow from 60 to 35 where the back tires were able to keep the car straight as I took both lanes and the shoulder. Add to this drama, I couldn't see though the water on both sides of the windshield and my glasses, and none of the other cars whizzing by seemed to have any appreciation to the peril I was in with my wide skis on the rear.
All of my scary moments involve rain. When I am intentionally sliding it, I'm excited, but not scared. |
I've had a few.
Hit 148 next to a GT40 on 71 west with Bernie Knight looking over at me from the passenger seat - there was some real fear. LOL Water puddle on a street when lighting up the tires - car went sideways - on two tires. Thought I was going to roll. Got some Audi that wanted to play - lit up the tires at 35, smoke everywhere and went sideways. Almost hit the Audi. Wife driving - her and a Ferarri going at it. Wasn't sure the Ferarri knew she was just playing. Just a few. |
Sweeping lefthand freeway onramp, @ 50 in 2nd gear....right on the torque curve....and 'bam' I'm looking at a huge mountain of concrete. I was able to straighten in out, shift into 3rd and continue on my way without either hitting the wall/berm or collecting another car.
This was pretty early in the car's life and taught me a couple things, mostly about not doing stupid stuff in traffic. |
With less than a year driving a Cobra. I was on Sunday am drive with new "DOT approved racing tires". Dog runs into my path. I swerve to right going about 45mph. Right rear tire picks up gravel and I am on marbles- I tap brakes and car spins. I get it out of spin just in time to glance off a mesquite tree. Had it not been for the roll bar and safety harness - the tree would have struck my head. Car rebuilt and back on road with much more street friendly Cooper Cobras and a driver with a healthy respect for and much better knowledge of how to drive these things. [IMG]
http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/pict...pictureid=7526[/IMG] |
This one comes to mind:
On my way to a car gathering, me and a friendly Carrera GT (10 cyl) were apparently headed to the same place ;). I started out a few cars behind but jogged past him, no problem, with plenty of pedal left. I then remembered my wife was sitting next to me. Wait, is this the scariest moment thread, or stupidest moment thread? **) |
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I looked at quite a few. |
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She was the oldest "boy" of three girls which disappointed her car nut father. So for her highschool car they built a 50's Ford Pickup with a 455 worked out Olds engine. It was truly a deathtrap, totally stock suspension and brakes. She lived in a small community and the police brought her home when they caught her racing. She got in all kinds of trouble from her father, when she told him she was losing when the police stopped them. |
I've had a couple of "break-it loose" moments but opening the insurance bill is the scariest for me.
-Greg |
Ok, so this was not in my Cobra. It was in my Beck Lister. I had finished the car a few weeks earlier. I was out for a drive and stopped for a red light at a busy 4 way intersection. I wanted to see the shift light flash for the first time. With clutch pedal in I gassed the engine to the 6,000 rpm shift point. I just saw the light when the clutch fully engaged. I shot across the intersection before being able to stop. Fortunately I didn't hit anything.
I was using a HYD throw out bearing. I hadn't secured the braided lines well enough and they were sucked into the pressure plate which severed them. |
Bill, I have only driven the Cobra tribute that I built using LS6 engine, T56 transmission, and C5 Corvette suspension. I built the frame and it is very stiff in torsion.
The Beck Lister used C4 Corvette suspension which was narrowed. I found that the front suspension pick up points were wrong and the 5 link rear suffered from too high of a roll center. The Beck was advertised as being under 2000lbs. But, even built with padding only as seats and an aluminum head chevy 355 it weighed over 2300lbs. In every category my C5 Cobra tribute is a better handling and driving car. My Cobra doesn't have the brute nature of an original/replica with a 427 engine. But, it is very quick, has great brakes, suspension, steering, and can be driven and serviced as any Corvette would be. |
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Shortly after parking my car in the grass at a cruise in/car show, a little kid with bare feet stepped up on my sidepipes to look in my car.
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I guess one of my scariest moments was hitting a patch of oil that another car had dumped on the track. The spinning wasn't so scary but the thought of another car coming around that corner and doing the same and hitting me was.
Ron |
I was tracking Carmen and after a straight away that leads into a chicane, i downshifted and she started turning before I did. My driver side rear blew out. Everything happened so fast, however, I had time to think about how much body damage I was going to have as well as a broken wheel and assorted other damage.
Thankfully, I only had a flat tire and flat bottom side pipe! |
Overtaking some car that was doing 30 MPH - I had shifted down to second gear and floored it to hear the echo off the adjoining quarry face, by the time I got past him and turned back in was doing significantly more than 30, unfortunately I wasn't thinking and came off the power fairly suddenly as I turned in (still in second), she stepped very sideways very suddenly, but some quick opposite lock and a bit of throttle saved the day, I won't do that again.
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Are you the driver? |
I took an early May ski trip to Mammoth Mt. My timing was off. A severe winter storm came in a lot faster than anticipated. Had to drive over Carson Pass at 8500ft. The storm had lightening, hail, freezing rain and heavy snow. I don't have a top but I did have my electric vest turned up high. I had to reach over the windshield to knock the ice off so I could see. That was 40 miles of terror. The storm came in so fast I had no place to hide. I did see a Harley parked on the side of the road with about 8in of snow on the seat
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It seems to rain on me every time I get 200+ miles from home.
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I sure hope no insurance agents are lurking on this thread ! Who started this anyway ?
Bill ? What do you do for a living Bill? :) |
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