Journalist sued after 917 engine explodes

[Rico]

Interesting court case on at the moment.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/classiccars/98...

David Piper allowed Mark Hales, an experienced racing driver and freelance writer, to take his treasured Porsche 917 for a spin on a test track for a magazine article.
But disaster struck when the engine on the green-and-white vintage motor - valued at £1.25m - failed catastrophically as Mr Hales drove it around the course.
Mr Piper claims the damage was caused by Mr Hales failing to engage the right gear and "over-revving" the engine and wants him to pay for the repairs the car needed.
He told London's High Court: "If you bend it, you mend it."

The 82-year-old, of London Road, Windlesham, Surrey, is seeking around £50,000 for the cost of fixing the engine, which had to be shipped to Germany for specialist repair and the "loss of use" he endured while the car was out of action.

[birdcage]

Surely the case could only come to court if there was a bend it mend it contract.

So he either buzzed the gearbox or it jumped out of gear. I say MH will win this one depending on paperwork, it's too ambiguous without an actual crash to prove he broke it.

[stuttgartmetal]

Put in the wrong gear it would over rev.
If it slipped out, why would it over rev?
If it was revved in neutral surely there's a rev limiter.
Or am I bein Fick?

[Moosh]

birdcage said:

Surely the case could only come to court if there was a bend it mend it contract.

So he either buzzed the gearbox or it jumped out of gear. I say MH will win this one depending on paperwork, it's too ambiguous without an actual crash to prove he broke it.

I would say it would depend on how much the judge likes Journalists

[agtlaw]

As i said elsewhere, i've successfully defended a similar case.

Long discussion here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[RSGulp]

You'd think motoring journalists would have some sort of professional indemnity insurance to cover this sort of situation.

Anyone volunteered their car to be driven for the '911 is 50' feature at Silverstone? http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Rico]

agtlaw said:

Long discussion here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Oops. Checked General Motorsport but not General Gassing.

[Terminator X]

stuttgartmetal said:

Put in the wrong gear it would over rev.
If it slipped out, why would it over rev?
If it was revved in neutral surely there's a rev limiter.
Or am I bein Fick?

Put your car in neutral, press accelerator until it touches the floor, come back and tell us if the rev limiter kicked in [yo] ...

TX.

[spikeyhead]

Terminator X said:

Put your car in neutral, press accelerator until it touches the floor, come back and tell us if the rev limiter kicked in [yo] ...

TX.

In that situation, my Atom is limited to 5500 rpm. it needs to be moving to increase the rev limit up towards 9000.

[Terminator X]

spikeyhead said:

Terminator X said:

Put your car in neutral, press accelerator until it touches the floor, come back and tell us if the rev limiter kicked in [yo] ...

TX.

In that situation, my Atom is limited to 5500 rpm. it needs to be moving to increase the rev limit up towards 9000.

Really?! My engine would simply explode.

TX.

[stuttgartmetal]

Terminator X said:

stuttgartmetal said:

Put in the wrong gear it would over rev.
If it slipped out, why would it over rev?
If it was revved in neutral surely there's a rev limiter.
Or am I bein Fick?

Put your car in neutral, press accelerator until it touches the floor, come back and tell us if the rev limiter kicked in [yo] ...

TX.

Works on my Carrera 3.2, my C2 964, and used to on my C2 993
None of them rev over 6250 unless your going 120MPH and stick it in third.

[essayer]

Does a Porsche 917 engine even have a rev limiter??

[gsewell]

Many classic cars do not have rev limiters. They only became common in the days of ECU's. However, it is not difficult to add one retrospectively to older engines - just look in Demon Tweeks for example products. Hence if there was a rev limit of 7000rpm, should the owner of a £1.25M car not have bothered to fit a £50 accessory?

[IanHug]

Terminator X said:

Really?! My engine would simply explode.

TX.

Only if you've disabled the rev limiter.

[stuttgartmetal]

Good point.
If not, why not?

Miserable old goit has sold the thing on anyway.
Sort of points to some other personal issue or vendetta.
If its worth £1.25M, 40k's hardly broken the f cking old geriatric.

Costs will kill it all anyway.

[Porkupine]

stuttgartmetal said:

Sort of points to some other personal issue or vendetta.
If its worth £1.25M, 40k's minor.

Exactly what I was thinking!!!

[SimonRS]

Porkupine said:

stuttgartmetal said:

Sort of points to some other personal issue or vendetta.
If its worth £1.25M, 40k's minor.

Exactly what I was thinking!!!

Why would you put yourself through the stress of a court case for fifty grand, when you're 82 years old and obviously minted up to your eyeballs. Sounds like a right stroker.

[stuttgartmetal]

Old goit.

[FisiP1]

stuttgartmetal said:

Put in the wrong gear it would over rev.
If it slipped out, why would it over rev?
If it was revved in neutral surely there's a rev limiter.
Or am I bein Fick?

Many old porsches don't have rev limiters unless they have been retrofitted.

I'd asssume this is the same.

[freedman]

David Piper is a lovely bloke as well a respected driver and legend in Porsche/Ferrari circles

I guess the car concerned is the one in the red Salzburg car shown in the autosport show picture, which is ex Piper, though he ran both his cars in green

IIRC he had one genuine original 1969 car and another built from parts by his own team

If Hales broke it clearly he should pay to repair it