Carrera GT Crash Case Settled at $4.5M

[wild1poet2]

Here's an interesting case.

http://www.sportscarmarket.com/content/carrera

Excerpt: "The sole claim against Porsche was that the CGT was defective because it was designed without electronic stability control, which Porsche calls PSM. McClellan deposed two German engineers on the subject, and their answers were inconsistent. One testified that Porsche did not think that its PSM system would work on the CGT because the car’s frame structure and suspension mountings would create strong vibrations that would interfere with its operation. The other engineer testified that PSM was not offered because the customers didn’t want it."

[racer_d]

Luckily, Ralph Nadar (Unsafe at Any Speed) wasn't part of the legal team.

And yes, expect PSM to come on all porsches.. since clearly "we" aren't able to be trusted with fantastic cars.

[ChrisZang]

Better read the whole article, very interesting.

IMHO this would not happen at a PCA organized event.

[Perfectlap]

THe driver of that CGT Ben Keaton was a regular poster on Rennlist, I used to read his posts and I remember him sticking up for the Boxster when some snooty 911 owners would try to look down on it. He called one guy out once who was dissing the Boxster and told him that his C4S was the poor man's Carrera GT.

If the lawyers looking at whether or not Keaton's death could have been avoided I wonder if California Speedway coldn't have been looked at rather than Porsche.
Ben crashed into a cement wall. Now that we have these soft walls you have to wonder why they aren't mandatory everywhere on the racetrack. I believe Roger Penske owns that track.

[70Sixter]

Reminds me of the dumb a$$ broad who plunged her 911 Turbo into downtown La Jolla back in the late 70s/early80s. Sued Porsche for making a car with too much power for her to control.

She won.

Oh-by-the-way, she was drunk at the time and was convicted. Her lawyer kept the conviction out of the lawsuit trial because she had plead nolo contendere to the drunk driving charge. CA law apparently.

I was very suspicious of La Jolla and San Diego in general after that.

[ChrisZang]

as I said earlier: read the whole article and not only the headline

Very interesting read.

[blinkwatt]

Wow,that crazy! I wonder how many CGTs there are left after seeing all these wrecked ones on the net.

[Tool Pants]

This article has been all over the message boards.

100 years ago I skydived solo, static line. I signed a release. Now if there was popcorn instead of a properly packed parachute on my back I would have been pissed, or maybe my heirs would have been sad after I died.

Corey Rudl, who was a passenger in the CGT, died.

Folks keep talking about Ben Keaton, who also died. The driver and owner of the Carrera GT. The focus has always been Ben Keaton and the car.

What on earth did Corey Rudl do to deserve to die on that day?

He went for a ride.....