Your most embarassing/frightening car moment.....?

924Sman · 04:13 PM

I was reading the thread by eldorado on the bearings and I mentioned his lug nuts which then reminded me of a time I had one rear wheel not torqued and went for a drive and just about lost the entire wheel. I promptly pulled into a driveway and had a look, then tightened them, all was fine. But this made me think of a time I had a huge scare when I was coming home from the bar, half tanked in my 85 Camaro.
I was on the freeway doing a little over the speed limit when out of the blue my hood popped up and completely blocked my view. All I could do is look between the bottom of the windshield and the hood. The hood bent rearward so far it dented the roof!.....Now I was on a first date which made it even worse. I was lucky to get over to the side of the road and jumped up on the roof to push the hood back down, quite the site at 1am on a city freeway! As luck would have it I had some bailing wire and was able to secure the hood to get home.

Why I had bailing wire in the car is still a mystery, but a Godsend none the less! I was both embarassed and scared *****less!

So do you have a less than stellar driving experience(s) to share?

Oh..........and I ended up marrying the gal!!

Dal

Dtchy · 11-15-2007, 05:42 PM

Not as excited as you, but more than once going from understeer in a 4 wheel drift on an off- or onramp...

toolboy62 · 11-15-2007, 06:31 PM

Well, there was the time that I was doing a reasonably warm run through Schenley Park (site of the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix) in my '67 Dart, when I hit the streetlights in front of the library I realized that I'd blown a tranny cooler line and my car was on fire... OOPS.

Yes, there was a female in the car with me. To make matters worse, I'd just had a new transmission put in literally days before. Oddly, the tranny never worked right again after that.

nate

AeroSS_87 · 11-15-2007, 07:11 PM

Mine is definitely an embarrassment. I was only 18 at the time, had my black original 87 monte carlo SS aerocoupe 1 of 6,052 made. The sister and sworn enemy of my car rolls up next to me as me and some friends are cruising around at night downtown. Nothing but a black 87 grand national. We're both stopped at a light kind of feathering the gas back and forth, I kick in neutral and let a good 3k rev to him, and notice the light about to hit green, so instinctively I throw it into drive without remembering for that glimpse of a moment that my rpm's are around 2k, neutral drop the **** out of the car and I just bury my head into my hand. We get to the next light and the guy of course thinks it was intentional. Asked me "was that a neutral drop?" in a disappointing tone. I cringe and nod 'yes'. He shakes his head and leaves. DOH!

adrian1 · 11-15-2007, 08:10 PM

This is a story. Well after doin an oil change and cleaning and waxing my car i decided to go to town to get the rear view mirror glue. So after traveling for 7 miles i feel a vibration. I stop at a station and turn off the car. my car is still cranking! So i open the hood to disconnect the batt and luckily a friendly person was there with a cresent wrench. So now i had to get under the car after it just rained, at night with now another person's jack. The wires touch and made it crank. After that i was on my way.

flash968 · 11-16-2007, 06:16 AM

embarrassing: buddy in car - new 4:55 gears in the hot rodded mgb - "check this out" i say, as i rev it up and dump the clutch, anticipating a really nice launch - BANG! - broken rear end - "check this out" he says, as he reaches for his cell phone to call the tow truck

scarey: flipping my supercharged 440 1970 charger 3 times at 130 with 7 cops behind me

really scarey: any time i drive and see the soccer mom in her escalade on the cell phone - thankfully that will be illegal here in less than 2 months

jcommin · jcommin's Garage

I was sitting in the bank drive thru line in my 944 with my son sitting in the passenger seat. It was a warm summer day, our windows open, radio on waiting in line. I smelled something foul and I mentioned to my son " do you smell something funny?" He said yes and we were looking at the other cars in que to see where it could be coming from. Suddenly smoke started coming up from the passenger floor and I realized it was me. I could get out of line and smoke was billowing out of the hood and floor. When the drive thru finally opened up, I just drove right thru and went home. I couldn't stand the smoke and smell. I got home and it was hot oil leaking from the rear cam tower gasket.

924Sman · 11-16-2007, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flash968

embarrassing: buddy in car - new 4:55 gears in the hot rodded mgb - "check this out" i say, as i rev it up and dump the clutch, anticipating a really nice launch - BANG! - broken rear end - "check this out" he says, as he reaches for his cell phone to call the tow truck

scarey: flipping my supercharged 440 1970 charger 3 times at 130 with 7 cops behind me

really scarey: any time i drive and see the soccer mom in her escalade on the cell phone - thankfully that will be illegal here in less than 2 months

You were either lucky or the heavy metal on the Charger saved your behind!

....Or you were a "stand in" for Americas Wildest Car Chases.

Dal

flash968 · 11-16-2007, 07:02 AM

i'm going with lucky, because stupid just doesn't cover it

924Sman · 11-16-2007, 07:12 AM

....I read Marvel Comics and you are "The Flash", fast and indestructable! What a HERO!!!

Dal

flash968 · 11-16-2007, 07:32 AM

lol - hmmmm - i have been in an awful lot of crashes over the years.............

Eldorado · 11-16-2007, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flash968

really scarey: any time i drive and see the soccer mom in her escalade on the cell phone - thankfully that will be illegal here in less than 2 months

it's going to be illegal to be a soccer mom?!

flash968 · 11-16-2007, 09:38 AM

isn't it already?

nynor · 11-16-2007, 09:48 AM

there was the time i was going home from work when i was 18. i was driving a ford fiesta. they had just chip sealed the road by work, which means (in case you haven't heard of chip sealing, as i think it was invented in utah to drive motorists crazy) they slop on a thick coat of runny asphalt and then dump pea gravel on that, about an inch or two thick. pain in the arse. anyway, there is this sweeping turn and i am going my usual speed, about five over the speed limit. not paying close attention, i take the curve too wide, and my passenger side wheels hit the really thick pea gravel that accumulates at the outsides of the road when they do this useless exercise of chip sealing. next thing i know, the fiesta is sideways on curve, then its sideways the other way, back and forth like that about three times, maybe four. remember, i just got off of work, so all my peers are behind me to watch these shenanigans. i got to hear about it for a week. i literally had to get out of the car and walk around, i was so scared.

looneybin · 11-16-2007, 10:01 AM

I've got a good one (stupid one).
I was in my dad's turbo 2 RX-7 doing 130 mph when i hit some sand in the road, did a 720 & took out 200 feet of barbed wire fence, setting free about 20 cows.
Did i mention it was 1:00 AM?
My girlfriend & I were able to walk away & i called a friend with a 4x4 to yank me out of the cow pasture. - He was also a city cop at the time, & told me to get the hell out of there before we both had some 'splaining to do.
Did i also mention my dad was in Hawaii at the time?
the only damage to the car was the popup headlights were bent back & the barbed wire scratched the crap out of the car

flash968 · 11-16-2007, 10:06 AM

yeah - spins are no fun - i've had some scarey ones

i had a near miss when i first got the charger which had bald stock bias ply tires on it - on the way to the tire shop, in the rain, while crossing a bridge, i trounced it to get around a camaro that thought he was quick, and offering a challenge (i refer back to the "stupid" description above )- i immediately spun two complete 360s, and somehow managed to end up going in the same direction as i started, hitting nothing

the added bonus is that i passed the camaro while doing this

lol - not exactly sure which one of us had the better expression on their face

924Sman · 11-16-2007, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eldorado

it's going to be illegal to be a soccer mom?!

^^^^ROTFLMAO!!! Too funny!...........Seal chipping........Oh yes but here they use a red/purple colored rock very close to cinder gravel and OH MY GOD it will rip the skin off a Rhino! And it hurts like nothing else........I found this out when I was playing motocrosser on a freshly paved road when I lost the rear end then the tire took grip and flipped me like frisbie only I was rolling 20-30 ft over the new gravel. Needless to say I still have "rug burns" from it!

Dal

Panzer909 · Panzer909's Garage

Wow - too many stories to tell. Where should I begin?

1. As soon as they left for a weekend vacation to Canada, I had the motivation to "borrow" my old man's 1987 Dodge Daytona (which was a semi cool car at the time) when I first got my lisence in the summer of 1991. Went to fill it up at the gas station about 3 miles from my house, and accidentally locked the car keys in it - with the car still running!
I was in fantastic physical shape at the time, so I told the attendant what happened and sprinted home on foot to get the spare key. Nice.

2. While changing the control arms on the 944, There was a nut or two that was awfully stubborn and it took some whacking at it to get loose. While I'm consumed with trying to get the darn thing off, theres this increasing creaking noise....which was the one jack stand about to collapse - it was at a 45 degree angle before I noticed it!!

3. Stopped at a gas station to withdraw cash from the ATM. Was in a hurry so I run in and while waiting for the money to come out of the machine, I notice a man in a three piece suit trying to steal stuff out of my car!!!!! A sudden wave of rage came over me that I never felt before. Yep - this was one of those moments where we all wish we can catch the theif in the act. I move up quickly but stealthily right behind him and am ready to pummel him. At the last moment he gets out of the car and turns around to me. He's covered with sweat and looks VERY nervous. What da?
Him: "Hey, is this your car?"
Me: "Yes. Exactly what is going on here?!"
Him: (catching his breath) "You're a very lucky young man. When you parked your car it started rolling backwards towards that main road (pointing to a very busy intersection). I was frantically trying to find your parking brake. Luckily you left in unlocked or your Porsche would have been totaled".
Me: "Oh....thanks sir"

A black guy looking exactly like Redd Foxx filling up his car nearby saw the whole thing. He let out a laugh I still remember to this day.

924Sman · 11-17-2007, 11:52 AM

^^^^Either you like living on the edge or Ritalin is a serious need!!

Dal

Schumi · 11-17-2007, 01:52 PM

I have plenty of scary ones but instead how about a single funny one-

A good high school friend had this late 80's daytona that he bought for next to nothing. It was on it's last leg in every department. one day on the way to school the catback flange sheared from the cat and the pipe dropped down and threw sparks all over. After school he wanted me to try and drig it up so he could get to work. I took a belt and tied the pipe up to the frame so it wouldn't drag then promised to follow him to work. On the way the belt started slipping and got closer and closer to the ground. Eventually he went over a bridge of sorts where there was a bump in the road. The pipe caught the ground, bent up and backwards ripping itself, the muffler, and half of the ass end literally off the car. I should have felt bad but I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. We were going slow enough I could even hear him scream S&#@! after looking back and seeing bits all over the road....