Young drivers and fast cars (especially Mustangs) don't mix

[1FastCharger]

I'm sure everyone here has seen the Youtube video of the kid running his dad's brand new Shelby through the garage. Well, I see two young guys pull up to the the body shop accross the street from me in a new Roush Mustang. It seems they have a small scratch on the front bumper that they want fixed. I see them looking over a few times at the Mopars sitting out front. I guess they want to impress me so they procede to do their best burnout while leaving. This all happened on a Friday afternoon. I arrive at the shop on Saturday morning and what do I see? Yes, it is the same Mustang.

[1FastCharger]

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[69bronzeT5]

  there goes their pride . That must suck for them though but I bet it taught them not to show off, especially with a powerful car like that.

[Brock Samson]

  :scope
yeah, I can see that scratch,..
It'll buff out..

[69bronzeT5]

 
yeah, I can see that scratch,..
It'll buff out..

Looks like they nailed a telephone or lamp pole judging by the shape of the damage. And yep, theres that damn scratch

[1FastCharger]

You are right. Later that Friday the driver lost control and hit a utility pole.

[skip68]

:rotz:Did the kids live? And what or who did they hit? I am so sick of these naive parents handing "nitrous-filled/ or "Big Horse Power" vehicles to kids!!!!!!!!   Our son will get our Charger when Chuck croaks,  and our daughter will inherit the best car, MY 1967 Chevy Camaro When I kick the bucket!!!!!!!! 

Ohhhh, I know I'm gonna get spanked for that one! BTW: I love both cars,...................................................................................................................... just not equally!!!!

Mrs.Skip68

[Rack]

Well if he couldn't handle that mustang, he sure as hell can't handle a mopar. 



Seriously though, if I had a car like that I'd be showing off too. Only I'd leave the "wrapping it around a utility pole" part out of it.

[bull]

I was dumb enough to get into a 454-powered Camaro on the day it was first purchased by a bozo who had no experience or respect for V8 power. Long story short, we were in the ditch, a friend had two busted ribs and the car was totalled by the end of the evening.

[mikesbbody]

serves them right  i just hope nobody was hurt

[1FastCharger]

I am pretty sure they were fine. There wasn't any blood in the car. The interior actually looked great - except the airbags. I would have liked to snag those seats.

[69bronzeT5]

Thats one thing I'm gonna do with my Charger. I'm gonna take it easy...because of that reason......but actually now that I think of it...I'll be taking it easy because I have a 8 1/4 in it where I should have a 8 3/4..........

[Manfred318]

Yowza What a putz Luckily it should buff right out

[Rocky]

   By looking at the brake rotors, it seems that they never bothered to use the brakes either.       That may have prevented said damage.   

[greenpigs]

I wonder how many 60's muscle cars met the same fate at the hands of new drivers?  

[Marck]

Wow, that truly sucks.... 

I bet the driver was going like this after it happened.. 

[400/6/PAC]

I bet Daddy's Pissed.

[Mike DC]

     
Plenty of Toyota Corollas have gotten wadded up just as badly.   

The power isn't the real problem, it's just a little more tempting. 
The problem is kids who think they can drive because they know how to work a steering wheel & a clutch. 


Any dumbf*ck can point a car straight inside the traffic lanes under normal conditions. 
Screwing around on the edge of traction at high speed is another story.   

[69_500]

I would say that is where the majority of the missing Chargers are today. Back in the early 70's these cars were just as that Mustang is now, a car to drive and enjoy. Plenty of parents allowed their children to drive cars like the Charger, Cuda's, Challenger, Dart, RR, GTX's back in the day, and I"m sure that many of them met the same fate as this Mustang.

The only wreck I've ever been in was when I was in college. Driving along on a county road, and see a car fast approaching me from behind. Before I knew it, I was tapped in the left rear, and that sent both of the cars into opposing ditches. My car went into the right ditch, and hit a fence row, and 2 tree's, the other car a Monte Carlo hit a HUGE tree on the opposite side of the road. The driver was 16, and had misjudged the distance to me, and had simply waited too long for the speed he was going to get over into the other lane and pass me. The dent on my left rear of the car, was very slight, so I'm thinking that he barely tapped me, but it was enough to send me off into the ditch.

[TUFCAT]

From the looks of that hit......it appears they hit a tree or pole, not another car. Which is a good thing... (and hopefully teaches them a lesson) as I would be pissed if they caused damage or injury to someone else.  I  once did the same thing..... (being a dumbass), with nobody else to blame but myself

Thanks for sharing.  We sometimes need a friendly reminder of what can happen when we get too crazy behind the wheel.   

[mally69]

sorry for his luck That really sucks. What kind of power do those cars have anyhow    At least its not somones ( OLD ) charger. Could care less if it were a new charger.

[TruckDriver]

I would say that is where the majority of the missing Chargers are today. Back in the early 70's these cars were just as that Mustang is now, a car to drive and enjoy. Plenty of parents allowed their children to drive cars like the Charger, Cuda's, Challenger, Dart, RR, GTX's back in the day, and I"m sure that many of them met the same fate as this Mustang.

Yup, I agree. A LOT of '60s & '70s muscle cars were destroyed in the same manor durring that time. Last night, they had a orange '70 Superbird on B-J that went through just that. The car was fixed by Petty Enterprizes in '71, but they still had the original nose for the car that went with it.

[Mike DC]

In the later 1970s, the body shop price of replacing & painting a fender, bumper, and grille section would probably have added up enough to total the car.   People don't remember that these things were just worthless for a long time.   

Even numbers-matching factory Hemi cars weren't worth much more than the sum of their parts until about 1986. 

[72chargerSE]

From the looks of that hit......it appears they hit a tree or pole, not another car. Which is a good thing... (and hopefully teaches them a lesson) as I would be pissed if they caused damage or injury to someone else.  I  once did the same thing..... (being a dumbass), with nobody else to blame but myself

Thanks for sharing.  We sometimes need a friendly reminder of what can happen when we get too crazy behind the wheel.   

Which time, which car?

As I remember, you were being a dumbass more than once!

[markstealth91]

Damn that's freaking crazy and funny! To bad some people don't respect what they have and this is the outcome, no matter what car it is.

[terrible one]

Haha ouch, that's no fun. A friend of mine has one just like that with the manual tranny and all, very impressive car.

You don't have to "take it easy" to prevent shit like that, you just need some sense. You better believe I'll be boiling tires everywhere in my Charger. I'll drive it into the ground.

[Brock Samson]

I'm surprised "Kids" get cars like these. It's not uncommon for H.S. students around here to have BMW's or Lexus or at least a new rice rocket, But, when i was in H.S. in the mid '70s very few kids owned cars and they were at least ten years old most of the expensive cars cruising around school were owned by the pimps and drug dealers and they weren't exactly kids. A couple of my friends rides were pretty nice, one guy had a '66 427 vette (later traded it for a '68 Shelby) his dad bought it for him and he worked in a bakery and a friend of mine had a sweet '56 Nomad,.. but that was it..
So when you say a kid has this new Shelby I'm thinking some one under the age of 22 or so, cause "Kid" is a relative term if your 50 like me.
How does a kid end up with a ride like that?.. 

[Chad L. Magee]

Remindes me of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" with the silver Z-28.  I have seen that happen a few times back home.  Even one of my good friends did that with an 85 Z-28 quite a few years ago while still in high school: speeding at night on a country road, not paying attention to a T-intersection coming up (sign was there) and missing the stop sign to prevent the accident.  He was quite proud of how fast his car could go (he had a built 400 small block in it) and would show off all around town.  The car ended up taking out about 200 feet of barb fence that got wrapped around the front of the car, after hitting the ditch side first.  He ended up only getting one cut (teeth went through his lip) from hitting the steering wheel (which bent into a reverse taco after he hit it).  Only a few parts were usuable from it when it was parted out.  The sheriff told him he was very lucky as most of the accidents at that spot have been fatalities in the past.  To this day, he won't go over 50 on a dirt road......

[Mike DC]

 


Most of the public just can't drive. 


A lot of teenagers don't even seem to understand that traction is finite:

"It wasn't MY fault, the brakes locked on me!  Seriously!  All I did was jam the the brake pedal to the floor in the middle of a 70-mph sharp turn in the rain, and suddenly all the brakes & steering just locked up!  It scared the sh*t out of me.  I totally tried to avoid wrecking but I had no control.  It was the car." 

      

[Charger1973]

I hope the kids parents make him buy his own car this time.  He'll end up with a rusty Taurus station wagon or something like that.  Just recently 2 girls at my college were killed on the interstate.  One was talking on her cell phone and turned the WRONG WAY onto the interstate and hit another girls car head on.     Im always amazed at the number of idiots on the road these days.  I used to want a bike but now I wont ride one on the road.  Ive had too many friends killed that way.

[J-440]

  Just wait until The Fast and The Furious...I mean the Slow and The Curious...4 comes out.  It'll be ricer fury all over again.

[dkn1997]

Here on Long Island, a 16 year old kid  paid the ultimate price last night.  Armed with a learners permit, he was driving his 17 year old friends' Jetta and wanted to see how fast it would go.  all of this at 1:30am or so.  No booze or drugs either according to the cops.  He lost it into a bridge abuttment near the Seaford Oyster Bay expressway.  His buddy who owns the car is in critical condition.  They must have flying because all of the damage occured even with them wearing seatbelts. 

I am amazed more kids did not die when I was that age.  we were all doing the same stuff, but with cars that were at least twice as dangerous. 

I doubt that this type of thing will stop happening through education and tighter restrictions.  You cannot change the mentality of a teenage boy.   The ones who survive generally have at least one close call that sort of hits home.  In some cases, it's a little too close and the kid dies.  This is harsh, but:   In terms of driving and cars, the ones who live have a mix of very good luck and maybe better driving skills in some cases.  The one who lives may have had slighly better acuity and reaction time while trying a stupid stunt, or he just got lucky that nobody pulled out in front of him while doing triple digits somewhere. 

[mally69]

Man it sucks to hear stuff like that. I just lost a friend a few weeks ago in a car accident it wasn't his fualt, it was the other drivers. A car is nothing more than a machine, its no better nor any worse than the one operating it. And like all machine's out there, they can kill people, most of the time its in the hands of the driver.    I was told this by my dad when i first started driving, then heard it again from my grandpa  when i bought my charger. So, im guessing my Grandpa told my dad that very same saying that he told me.

[Mike DC]

 
I actually think modern cars are hurting as much as they are helping the issue.

They're a lot safer than the old cars were in general, but modern cars also do an amazing job of making you feel like you're going more slowly than you really are.  Teenagers in modern cars can hardly even scare themselves until they're going so fast that a wreck would be fatal. 

 

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

i hate kids like that get nice cars then destroy them because they do not know how to drive,theres no problem with showing off if you know how to do so and not ot a degree where your putting your car or yourself at risk, hell im 18 and i was taught how to drive in my dads old 68 charger and that car had 600+hp and i could drive it properly and when i wanted to light up those tires for 150 feet hell i could do that to , you can have power,you only get hurt if you abuse it and that saying goes for more then just cars -MATT

[Brock Samson]

  too has two Os.. 

[67vertman]

This is why my daughter will be going to Bob Bondurant 3-day teen dring training, http://www.bondurant.com/courses/teendriving.php this year. 

Of course while she there, I am going to be doing the Z06 exserience, http://www.bondurant.com/courses/z06experience.php 

[4cruzin]

Hopefully its a lesson learned for the driver and glad no one was hurt.  Accidents do happen but it sounds to me like that could of been avoided with some smart driving!   

[69bronzeT5]

i hate kids like that get nice cars then destroy them because they do not know how to drive,theres no problem with showing off if you know how to do so and not ot a degree where your putting your car or yourself at risk, hell im 18 and i was taught how to drive in my dads old 68 charger and that car had 600+hp and i could drive it properly and when i wanted to light up those tires for 150 feet hell i could do that to , you can have power,you only get hurt if you abuse it and that saying goes for more then just cars -MATT

Didnt you end up driving the Charger into the side of your house?

[Brock Samson]

It's not the young driver's, it's mustangs,.. drive a mustang, get dumb..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GfS3M3UZr0&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D87xOszNPUo&NR=1

[Mike DC]

Yeah, I've seen that second one before. 

We like to laugh at his "stupidity" with the shovel & all that, but he actually handled the car pretty smoothly.

   

[Lord Warlock]

It's not the young driver's, it's mustangs,.. drive a mustang, get dumb

Hey now, quit dissing the mustangs....its not the car its the drivers.  My mustang will eat most of the chargers alive, straight from the factory, has nice tight steering, handles great and has great ac and stereo options.  But on the other hand, the mustang will be gone in 10 years, the Charger will remain.  All 4 of the mustangs i've owned were nice driving cars, and fairly dependable compared to the old mopar.  At least in the mustang i can drive across the state on a single tank of gas, the charger eats almost 2 full tanks. 

I don't feel bad about seeing the occasional high end mustang die a nasty death, like most unique cars it will make the survivors worth more in the long run.  At least with the cobras one less means its even rarer than it was the day before. 

[Khyron]

do me a favor, go next door and ask them how much they want for those rims? 

[chgr500]

sorry for his luck That really sucks. What kind of power do those cars have anyhow    At least its not somones ( OLD ) charger. Could care less if it were a new charger.

Stock 4.6 litre mustang engines are rated at 310 HP ...Roush offers several different stages of Mustangs and models...310 to 435 HP and carries bumper to bumper warranty....the Shelby and the GT40 are rated at 550HP ....I've driven all of these cars and you must give them respect for power.....ponies have a loose rear end and like going sideways on heavy acceleration... good thing I had BB Mopars growing up ..lol
p.s. ...Ford is proposing two new engine options for the Mustang in 2010 with the body change and to compete with the new Mopar line...engine options are rumored to be a 5.8 litre and a 6.9 litre...chuck a supercharger on there and now how many ponies???

[hemihead]

It's not only the young drivers that can't handle the car . It's also most of the Adults . I have seen many people at car shows or cruises that are brain dead and think they are big , tough guys and do stupid things . They usually hurt the car , themselves , or innocent bystanders. And you know what   ? They always say " It wasn't  my fault ... blah , blah , blah "

[Mike DC]

 
It's funny how you can spend decades wanting the same car ever since you were 14, and then when you can finally afford one at 42 everyone calls it a "midlife crisis."


   

[Lord Warlock]

Lord Warlock=what kind of Mustang do you have?

I have an 04 SVT Cobra, black on black coupe.  Yes its supercharged from the factory, and its fast stock 390 hp, roughly 0-60 in 4.5 sec 1/4 in 12.65 (from the factory data-which is probably a couple tenths better than most actually see) but the car can do a quarter un-modded in mid 12s, and for less than 3k can get it into the 10s if you want to, although thats not my goal, i have no need to go faster than a mid 12.  I kind of enjoy having one un-modded, that seems to be how most buyers want them anyway.

The 5.8 is the boss 302 motor, which is slated to be re-released someday, the 6.9 i believe is the v10 but i haven't heard anything about the v10 in over a year.  They were hinting that the new boss would get that a few years ago, but its still not out. 

when you can finally afford one at 42 everyone calls it a "midlife crisis

The only reason why we use the mid life crisis excuse is that at 45, we have to get "permission" to spend 50k on a car, when you are 18 and single noone can tell you how much to spend on your toy.  We use the midlife crisis as an excuse to the wives who have been tightwads for decades and we already understand that a fancy hotrod isn't a "need" car, its a frivolous expenditure, that has to be justified some way.  The token few who got wives that want their men driving fancy or fast cars have already migrated to corvettes or even vipers.  The rarity of vipers on the road is a good indicator of just how few women out there that are open to encouraging the car habit in their men.  Most accept it grudgingly and try to choke down the jealousy at sharing their time. 

[Lord Warlock]

actually it'll only do 155, there is a speed limiter that stops it above that.  The 03 cobra is the same as the 04. 

[Lord Warlock]

yeah, using a diablo tuner can eliminate the speed control, and redline, and get rid of the stupid shift light (for mileage) as well as tune it for higher octane or lower octane gas, but most cobra owners won't do the "tune" upgrade till after they swap out the upper or upper and lower supercharger pullies. 

[Lord Warlock]

mopar nuts should be a little tolerant when we discuss our "daily drivers" that just happen to be fords.  The Stealth/3000gt owners have to listen to me talk about chargers and old musclecars often enough-for the last 5 years, as do the svtperformance people.  I don't mind the ribbing though, mopar lovers should always discriminate against chevvies, but fords?  If they want to taunt me, i'll be happy to taunt them back.

Not everyone can read a post and immediately come up with a fleshed out response, takes practice, such as extensive online posting on numerous sites.  Don't begrudge a budding post count.  lol.   

[Brock Samson]

  I wasn't gonna respond, I'll just say I LOVE Mustangs. and let it go at that... 

[Lord Warlock]

its not that i hate GM, just chevrolet.  I tried to go to the darkside a few times, got a 70 1/2 Camaro Z-28, and it was the car from hell, an estimated 3k car turned into a 10k hole in the wallet.  Sold it for 5k.  Bought the wife Pontiacs, an 88 Bonneville SSE which we had for 7 years then a Dodge Intrepid, then another Pontiac, this time a Grand Prix GTP.  Pontiacs have been nice cars, but for some reason they start acting strange around 100k and usually get replaced soon afterwards. 

When i drove the charger, every weekend i'd get challenged constantly by camaros, chevelle SS 396's and the odd corvette, the charger won every race.  However, the one time it lost was to a 55 chevy with an aluminum block 427 in it, he had 5k into it and it beat me by half a fender.  I didn't get emotionally scarred the chevy got hit by a train later that year. 

[hemihead]

Just reading the posts I have to say count me in with the Chevy haters club.
Most musclecars are bought because of the " midlife crisis " call it what you like .
And I can't believe the number of grown men that have to ask their wife's permission like they are their mommy's and they are little boys . 

[Mike DC]

   
IMHO people will poke fun at you for wanting a cool car just the same no matter what age & life position you're in. 

If you're a child, then the car-obsesssion gets called "childish."  As a teenager & young adult, it gets called a hormonal/testosterone thing.  When you're older, it gets called a midlife crisis.

It just gets belittled as a different illegitimate motivation depending on your age.

------------------------------------------------------


Women? 
Most of them insist that they don't really care about a guy's car. 

And it's true -- most women really don't care about some dude's BMW very much.


But the fact that the man is able to AFFORD that cool car they don't care about? 
Hmm . . .   

[Lord Warlock]

getting permission isn't like anyone is a mommy, but knowing that a car is a toy basically, and having 2 kids to get thru college, a mortgage to pay for, and a crapload of monthly bills to pay, even making income in the top 10% spending 30k to 50k on a car isn't something likely to get approval for, especially if she'd driving a 6 year old beater herself.   In my case she should be able to drive a more expensive car than me...since she outearns me by 30k a year. 

Before you say anything, I'm just stating getting her to accept your decision to splurge on yourself every now and then is a big way to have a marriage that survives long term.  If you've been married 4 years and do it you aren't risking anything, but if you've been married 24 years there is quite a bit more at risk. (30 years since dating started).  People that say the hell with it and damn the torpedos, who cares what the wife thinks, don't stay married that long.  (OR they've been married 40+ years already and are eager for death to claim them at any time)

[hemihead]

If you have all that financial responsibility then you need a cheaper hobby . I was married 10 years and I never asked my wife anything I TOLD her . I was the man . And yes , I am divorced now . The reason being I TOLD her if she didn't like it , there was the door. I didn't lose the hosue , the kid , not even the dog . I TOLD her if she came after me for anything I would hunt her down and kill her. I guess being a man works .

[Lord Warlock]

I picked the hobby before i got the wife, and she's managed to figure out a way to keep it thru the tougher early years.  Then again, i have 3 cars to consider, and a 3 to 1 ratio isn't too bad.  Think the hunt her down comment was a bit harsh, can understand why she left.  but I don't know her either, she could be one that elicits that type of a reaction from you, i've never felt that way myself.  Always considered being a man was ....more.  Cars are just a way to pass free time, and enjoy occasionally.  The rest of the time they are work like anything else.  Kids are what life is for, that and the game...he who dies with the most toys wins. 

[hemihead]

The reason why she left was I worked 70 hours a week because she wanted money . Then she was cruising the bars for men while I was working . Nice huh ? I am not an abusive man . Harsh about hunting her down ? Maybe . But I ' m not one to cower in the corner or give in . Women always say they want equality a relationship . They want to do what they want . They have their own jobs , and their own money but a man has to " ask " his wife if he wants to buy something ? I have one mother , I don't need to date or marry a woman that tells me what I can or cannot do . If you demanded that your wife or girlfriend ask permission for everything she does or buys , you would be blamed for being " too controlling " . And yes  the kids always come first . I have raised my son alone the last 8 years . That is also part of being a man . Accepting responsibility . And no matter how toys you have , you still never  win . Nobody does .

[Silver R/T]

what a waste of nice mustang

[Lord Warlock]

If there was something I truly wanted, the wife's opinion isn't going to stop me from getting it.  But in my case I already have several expensive toys laying around, and currently there are other things money is better spent on than my own wants.  When the kids are out of college, then i'll be free (somewhat) to buy more toys. 
She didn't have much choice in the decision to build a 2nd garage on the property (to house the charger) and spending 30k wasn't chump change.  I prefer to pick my fights, and avoid nagging as often as possible.  Anyone can yell their way thru a conflict, If i get angry, all three of the women in the house have learned to stay out of my way, but on the other hand, I have to deal with 3 women on the rag every month so I get my fair share of the suffering. 

[1FastCharger]

I guess I got lucky. My wife loves muscle cars. She is always on the lookout for me for parts or other projects.