Mechanic wrecks customers 300 SL Gullwing

[8vFTW]

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Ouch. Article said the garage is insured for events like this. But how do you go about repairing that mess?

[stormy22]

Who cares about repairing it. It is ruined!! Now it has been trashed, the value will never be the same...EVER!

[Megaflow]

I fear somebody is going to be on the receiving end of some serious VBRJ from his employer...

[WTFWT]

Kind puts the 250 miles on the BRZ saga into perspective.

The car does look sad sat there at the side of the road. That said, there is no way they will let this die. She will live on!

[vescaegg]

Jesus. What are they worth at the moment? Half a million?

Mechanic must have been driving like a tt. It's not exactly a 'lost the back end' type car is it.

[IanMorewood]

Ouch that's not a nice sight.

[kambites]

vescaegg said:

Mechanic must have been driving like a tt. It's not exactly a 'lost the back end' type car is it.

I was under the impression that they were extremely difficult cars on the limit? Obviously never driven one to test that theory, though.

Shame and the mechanic is obviously an idiot, but I'm sure it'll be repaired to at least the condition it was in before the accident and I don't think this kind of car loses value from having been repaired as long as it's done properly?

[RB Will]

Not quite in the same league but I think this sort of thing happens fairly regularly. I worked for a dealer where mechanics managed to destroy a Lotus Exige and a 911 GT2 neither got sacked.

[Disco_Biscuit]

What a waste of a beautiful and rare car. :-(

[chevronb37]

kambites said:

vescaegg said:

Mechanic must have been driving like a tt. It's not exactly a 'lost the back end' type car is it.

I was under the impression that they were extremely difficult cars on the limit? Obviously never driven one to test that theory, though.

Shame and the mechanic is obviously an idiot, but I'm sure it'll be repaired to at least the condition it was in before the accident and I don't think this kind of car loses value from having been repaired as long as it's done properly?

My understanding is that the rear suspension set-up isn't good for high performance motoring. The inside rear wheel has a habit of 'tucking under' causing all manner of problems. Very difficult and unpredictable to drive on the limit, apparently.

[pad58]

I didn't know they had airbags back in 1957?

[g3org3y]

Error!

Difficult to assess the situation with only one photo but trying to look in the distance, road looks pretty straight to me.

kambites said:

Shame and the mechanic is obviously an idiot, but I'm sure it'll be repaired to at least the condition it was in before the accident and I don't think this kind of car loses value from having been repaired as long as it's done properly?

It must do, especially given the amount of work that's going to be required to get the car back to the same standard.

[funkyrobot]

PumaUk7

[Strawman]

chevronb37 said:

My understanding is that the rear suspension set-up isn't good for high performance motoring. The inside rear wheel has a habit of 'tucking under' causing all manner of problems. Very difficult and unpredictable to drive on the limit, apparently.

Yes I read an article about some old journalist reminiscing about testing one when they were first released. in a spirited drive early one morning down deserted lanes he managed to put it on it's side but when righted again it wasn't damaged much.

[Fort Jefferson]

article said:

test drive and joy ride.

So which was it then?

[Jibberingloon]

Whoooppppppps

[williamp]

stormy22 said:

Who cares about repairing it. It is ruined!! Now it has been trashed, the value will never be the same...EVER!

Of course it will. Its almost 60 years old. It would have been restored before, it will again. Insurance will cover it. An inconvenience, but it wont be ruined

And they wre very tricky cars zto drive. Wo knows:maybe the owner had rEported handling problems which were being looked at, maybe a fresh restoration with something not quite tight, maybe drIver error.

If everyone is ok, then everything else can be repaired. So relax

[GC8]

vescaegg said:

Jesus. What are they worth at the moment? Half a million?

Mechanic must have been driving like a tt. It's not exactly a 'lost the back end' type car is it.

Nicknamed 'the widow-maker' due to its errant handling characteristics,thats exactly what it is.

Still: not what youd expect on a test drive.

[sasha320]

RB Will said:

Not quite in the same league but I think this sort of thing happens fairly regularly. I worked for a dealer where mechanics managed to destroy a Lotus Exige and a 911 GT2 neither got sacked.

I think the dealer would have to prove gross misconduct / negligence etc to sack an employee who totalled a car on a test drive and in turn it would be exceptionally difficult to prove gross misconduct / negligence unless really reliable witnesses and / or the Police witnessed the accident.

In fact more scrutiny would be levelled on the employer to make sure they had taken all reasonable steps to ensure the employee wasn't exposed to undue risk in taking the test drive and / or had been supported if they were injured and / or when they returned to work.

Seems counter intuitive I guess.

[storminnorman]

Ecurie Ecosse said:

Reminds me of when Nick Mason was at the track and a driver crashed his (I think) GT40 at the time. Nick simply looked up from his newspaper, raised his eyebrows, then carried on reading.

I think any owner of a racing car knows it's a matter of when, not if, their car gets stacked so I'm not surprised.
Highly valuable road cars however, I'm in awe that the owner "remained calm".