Something you don't want to see everyday

[400TT]

Wasn't sure if I wanted to post about this...

I had just finished getting my Cobra engine bay paint touched up and a few other odd jobs sorted.

I was driving back home in the daily driver along a back street in an industrial estate on northern Gold Coast this morning. Thinking about all the things I had to do that day.

In the distance I saw a green Cobra turn out of a driveway of a tyre shop and head towards me. Hmm Cobra. Noisy as all buggery. I could see it start to slide sideways as it struggled for traction in what must have been 2nd gear, so it was moving at a fair rate of knots.

All of a sudden it speared off sideways towards the footpath, narrowly missing a couple of parked cars and straight into a chain wire fence...which spun it around with all sort of debris exploding into the air and the noise.

I pulled over in disbelief.

Two relatively young kids got out, no injury's thank god. (It was his older brothers car)

Fairly substantial front end damage up to the start of the bonnet. Fairly substantial drivers guard damage, wheel, suspension damage. Rear lights, bumper etc all ripped off. Paint & minor body damage all around rear and rear guards.

I told them I was a fellow Cobra owner and it was going to be ok. They can be repaired.

I stood back and looked at what was once I nice old Pre-1995 narrow body DRB. A very close shade of green to British Racing green, Convo Pro wheels, grey modern interior. All looking decidely the worse for wear now.

Very quickly there was a huge crowd of lookers and lots of wise comments.

I hung around till everything was sorted and the kids were in good hands.

It still hasn't sunk in what happened. What are the odds of that happening in front of you.

The kid claimed it was a mechanical failure...maybe...maybe not.

A lesson for us all, these cars can bite. It could have been a lot, lot worse. Even for me if I had been a few seconds earlier.

(Also didn't sound like it was insured...What The?)

I drove back past this afternoon and the fence was already being repaired, little remained of what had happened.