Bill Dearborn

Saw this posted on Yahoo today.

Cobra HPDE Crash at 130 mph. Interesting in car camera perspective with slow motion.


Bill

travisnd

REPOST!

Was posted in the "Moment before the pain" thread, but went mostly unnoticed. Deserves more exposure and discussion.

RDnomorecobra

I had one of those. Sold it and bought a vette the first time I did 120+ which I think was at Pocono North. Which was the event after a frame weld broke on the nasty transition from the oval to the infield at Pocono East . Cool cars, great for car shows and cruising. It's a death trap on a road course without a proper cage.

sperkins

Those things flip easier than the old school CJ5 Jeeps.

drivinhard

I always thought I wanted one for going to get ice cream on sat night but after instructing in one, I changed my mind. I'd rather have a ragtop C5/C6

2K3Z06

THat was one hellva crash, and one hellva camera mount.............. Jesus.

WNeal

I would have to say open top cars should have mandatory arm restraints. Lucky they did not get ripped off they way they were flailing around

travisnd

Fixed

Most run groups do mandate them for that exact reason

froggy47

There is a know weak point in the front Ford Mustang knuckle, I have see pics of it broken. Don't know if this particular car was built that way.

My autox club has a new member this year with a Factory Five version.

Will be checking it out.

Lucky guy in this wreck.

63Corvette

I seem to see the rear (trunk) lid coming up (open) PRIOR to the flip???
Could this have contributed by upsetting the air over the car?

ULEWZ

This kind of proves my theory that a good title will lure people to read much more than a lame title. Just my theory by the way.

MartyZ51

It looks like something broke and he was just a passenger after it started going sideways. I have some track time in a Superformance '65 Cobra replica and they are a handful. No power steering and light weight with questionable straight line aerodynamics above 125.

A lot of fun to drive for short track sessions. By the end of the day your arms are sore and you smell like fuel! Definitely respect the people that raced them.

TRACKMAN2

i personaly have never seen one not flip or crash worst car ever made!!!

grantar2

All you can say is the LORD wanted to get his attention or he is very lucky. His head was above the useless roll hop if the car had landed upside down especially in the sand. He was sliding head first towards teh wall as well.

Just not a fan of that design or vintage roll safety standards.

longdaddy

why would you NOT put a roll bar into one of those??

JimbeauZ06

Mandatory in PCA. And that roll hoop? Might technically meet requirements for roll over protection but I doubt he would pass the "broomstick" test. These cars should have a full roll bar at minimum IMHO. Needless to say this guy is lucky to be alive and whichever organization allowed him on the track without what I would consider minimum standard safety equipment is also very lucky.

Pumba

That's the first thing I noticed!

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Crepitus

The driver was moveing around in the seat a lot.

RaleighSS

yea ..... i turned down an opportunity to instruct in one of these ... Just confirmed my choice...

John Shiels

harness looks to have totally failed as it came apart.