13yr old killed in F50

Author
Discussion

Dr Jekyll

23,820 posts

262 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
It's perfectly possible to demonstrate the performance of a car without taking risks, but you really need to be familiar with it and be in the right place.

Remember the old Red Arrows motto. 'Thrill the ignorant, impress the knowledgeable, frighten nobody'.

Art0ir

9,402 posts

171 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
Dr Jekyll said:
Remember the old Red Arrows motto. 'Thrill the ignorant, impress the knowledgeable, frighten nobody'.
That's brilliant, first I heard that.

Digga

40,390 posts

284 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
Art0ir said:
Dr Jekyll said:
Remember the old Red Arrows motto. 'Thrill the ignorant, impress the knowledgeable, frighten nobody'.
That's brilliant, first I heard that.
Hard to get right.

I took one friend out in the Griff 500, on an undulating B road route I knew well. As we set off, gently, he was wittering on about his BIL's 'sportscar', a BMW Z3 IIRC, mid run, he was totally silent, and, as we returned to the 30 mph zone, he very earnestly said "a Z3 isn't a proper sports car, is it?". He'd definitely enjoyed the run.

Doing not much differently, I'd been asked by a friend if I'd take her husband out, as he was trying to decide between an MX5 and a TVR Chimaera. I'm pretty sure he didn't enjoy the ride sadly - he seemed fine at the time, but was white as a sheet afterwards. Which wasn't the intent. He got an MX5.

Apropos of both of the above, IMHO both the MX5 and the Z3 most definitely are proper sports cars.

clonmult

10,529 posts

210 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
fblm said:
The Spruce goose said:
tragic but definitely a rare event and shouldn't stop the childhood joy of riding in a supercar.
I hope you're right. I can clearly trace my car problem back to a ballistic ride in a family friends E28 M5 back in the day. It certainly makes me think twice about passing the experience on though...
Back in the early 80s, an uncle had finished the refurb on his Marcos (3 liter). My first experience of speed; pretty sure we took the M6/M55 junction at a speed that may have been over 100mph, I was probably a similar age to the lad in this event.

A few years back while my car was in for work, my housemate offered to help me pick up my son on a saturday morning. Impreza WRX, suggested that he open it up a little on the way back home. My sons face in the back seat was priceless - he absolutely loved the feeling of the acceleration.

As long as your careful, speed isn't an issue. This just seems like a truly tragic event, poor kid. The driver will no doubt be feeling absolutely heartbroken ....

normalbloke

7,469 posts

220 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
Digga said:
Art0ir said:
Dr Jekyll said:
Remember the old Red Arrows motto. 'Thrill the ignorant, impress the knowledgeable, frighten nobody'.
That's brilliant, first I heard that.
Hard to get right.

.
Very hard to get right, even the Red Arrows have had their moments.

Digga

40,390 posts

284 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
normalbloke said:
Very hard to get right, even the Red Arrows have had their moments.
As others on here (Pesty) have said, it's not only your passengers, but the drivers of other vehicles and also pedestrians etc. that you have a responsibility to consider, at all times.

SilverSpur

20,911 posts

248 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
I think we all are pretty comfortable with fast progression in our own performance cars that we fully understand the performance characteristics of. What we don't do is jump into somebody else's hypercar and say 'something like watch this' to some impressionable young innocent kid.


The mother must be absolutely destroyed, having let her son go on an unplanned ride with some stranger.

AJL308

6,390 posts

157 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
Digga said:
Art0ir said:
Dr Jekyll said:
Remember the old Red Arrows motto. 'Thrill the ignorant, impress the knowledgeable, frighten nobody'.
That's brilliant, first I heard that.
Hard to get right.

I took one friend out in the Griff 500, on an undulating B road route I knew well. As we set off, gently, he was wittering on about his BIL's 'sportscar', a BMW Z3 IIRC, mid run, he was totally silent, and, as we returned to the 30 mph zone, he very earnestly said "a Z3 isn't a proper sports car, is it?". He'd definitely enjoyed the run.

Doing not much differently, I'd been asked by a friend if I'd take her husband out, as he was trying to decide between an MX5 and a TVR Chimaera. I'm pretty sure he didn't enjoy the ride sadly - he seemed fine at the time, but was white as a sheet afterwards. Which wasn't the intent. He got an MX5.

Apropos of both of the above, IMHO both the MX5 and the Z3 most definitely are proper sports cars.
I had a Griff 500HC for a short time quite a while ago. I reckon I could have got the back end to overtake the front on a straight road just by flooring it in second if the road had any imperfections at all. Totally different animal to anything I had driven before or have since. Hate to think how easy an F50 is to get out of shape.

To be honest it really makes you think as to whether there should be some sort of graded licence in order to drive stuff like that. You can't get a pilots licence for a single engined Piper and jump straight into a four engined jet, after all.

probably chalk

672 posts

193 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
SilverSpur said:
The mother must be absolutely destroyed, having let her son go on an unplanned ride with some stranger.
Well said. Heartbreaking.

Digga

40,390 posts

284 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
[redacted]

SilverSpur

20,911 posts

248 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
[redacted]

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

240 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
[redacted]

ALawson

7,817 posts

252 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
SilverSpur said:
it could have been sat in storage for months and months on tyres that were hardening and out of condition.
That was one of my first thoughts, absolutely terrible for all those involved.

Never driven anything as exotic as a F50 but having been out in a few PH'ers cars can imagine how quickly things can change. Hope the driver makes a full recovery, will be difficult for him. But his family and friends must also be devastated.

RIP.

Soov535

35,829 posts

272 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
ALawson said:
SilverSpur said:
it could have been sat in storage for months and months on tyres that were hardening and out of condition.
That was one of my first thoughts, absolutely terrible for all those involved.

Never driven anything as exotic as a F50 but having been out in a few PH'ers cars can imagine how quickly things can change. Hope the driver makes a full recovery, will be difficult for him. But his family and friends must also be devastated.

RIP.
I wondered about this.

The accident happened one minute into the ride. Cold tyres/dusty concrete road/too much throttle = tankslapper?


PurpleTurtle

7,041 posts

145 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
Digga said:
Shortly after I got my first Griff a guy (a Dr in scientific research IIRC) picked up a Chimaera from Team Central and never made it home, his car found upside down in a ditch the next day.
O/T but I remember that, the A446 just after the Belfry nr Sutton Coldfield. I've been round that bend hundreds of times in my yoof in my MG Metro, delighting at how awesome a corner it is, but easy to get wrong with too much power on tap I expect. Now when I visit my folks I always treat it with a lot more respect, because of that specific accident.

Digga

40,390 posts

284 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
PurpleTurtle said:
Digga said:
Shortly after I got my first Griff a guy (a Dr in scientific research IIRC) picked up a Chimaera from Team Central and never made it home, his car found upside down in a ditch the next day.
O/T but I remember that, the A446 just after the Belfry nr Sutton Coldfield. I've been round that bend hundreds of times in my yoof in my MG Metro, delighting at how awesome a corner it is, but easy to get wrong with too much power on tap I expect. Now when I visit my folks I always treat it with a lot more respect, because of that specific accident.
I didn't know that's where it was. I just remember talking to the garage on the 'phone and them being relieved I'd got home safely - then relating the tale by way of explanation.

J4CKO

41,679 posts

201 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
SilverSpur said:
The mother must be absolutely destroyed, having let her son go on an unplanned ride with some stranger.
That thought just makes me feel weird, I cant comprehend what that poor woman, her family and the driver are going through.


Someone I know occasionally gets his hands on some nice cars and pops round to take me for a spin, he has gone a bit daft in an attempt to show off, on the narrow roads near to home, I dont intend to get in again and my kids wont be going anywhere near, not sure what speed he did in a 30 but it was a lot over 30, possibly three times that, I feel bad even being a passenger.





s3fella

10,524 posts

188 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
Was it the driver's car or a customer car?
If it turns out this wasn't even the drivers own car, the that adds an even crueller twist to this sad event. Eg, did the mother know it was not his? (if it wasn't).

This is going to get very legally complicated very quickly indeed , I think.

Digga

40,390 posts

284 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
J4CKO said:
That thought just makes me feel weird, I cant comprehend what that poor woman, her family and the driver are going through.
Quite. It is too awful to contemplate the situation for any of the parties involved.

J4CKO said:
in a 30 but it was a lot over 30, possibly three times that, I feel bad even being a passenger.
Agreed. Just no.

The speed limits in built-up areas are never wrong.

J4CKO

41,679 posts

201 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
s3fella said:
Was it the driver's car or a customer car?
If it turns out this wasn't even the drivers own car, the that adds an even crueller twist to this sad event. Eg, did the mother know it was not his? (if it wasn't).

This is going to get very legally complicated very quickly indeed , I think.
I suspect the driver will be past caring about what happens to him legally, he has had the worst thing he could have happen to him happen here I expect.