ouch - hope this never happens to any of us
 

Hurts just to look at it.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/car-life/cheney/globe-journalists-son-crashes-180000-porsche/article1574334/

http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.c...653895gm-f.jpg

Interesting article, it must suck to be that kid. :cheers:

I'd have every key to a vehicle like that locked in my gun safe, junior would have to come knocking with a torch that would make Dday from Animal house blush.

As for the car, I'm going to have to assume massive undercarriage damage and unseen bent suspension pieces, that said I could see my way clear to take it off your hands for 20K. :)

Actually, the whole thing just looks like fodder for a story for the kid's dad.

$11k (CDN) worth of damage to a Porsche Turbo is like one scratch. If you look, the car is remarkably untouched. I see no flattened fender or scratches for that matter. Even the license plate (which presumably struck the garage door first) appears straight and unbent.

The Father probably made more from publishing the story than the actual damage sustained.

Cheers!

dads first phone call was to his atty. getting advise on what was the best story

Not mentioned, but it looks to me like the car was left in gear - when the kid turned the key to play the radio he turned too far and the car leaped forward. Not sure why folks are doubting the story - most of the damage was not in the picture...or maybe people didn't actually READ the story?

Does everyone (manual trans) leave their car in gear?

Um, doesn't the clutch have to be depressed to start the car? His story that he turned the key too far and it lept forward just doesn't ring true.

And yes, I park my car in gear with the handbrake on - every time. And my car will not start unless the clutch is pressed all the way to the floor.

I always park it like that too. I don't think that kid would have been able to circumvent that saftey feature either since it is possible.

Doesn't insurance cover stuff like this?

Yes it does, but it said in the article that the deductible on the Porsche was $10000.

Yep, gotta call BS on this one. I tried starting my car as the story states - it doesn't start and a "depress clutch petal" light appears. Wouldn't think a Turbo would be any different.

The Mythbusters would call this one busted.

The pics don't make sense either. No way you could've been going fast enough to cause that much damage by just jumping off the ignition. The door is blasted off the tracks. That can't happen at 1-2 mph (or kph in this case) from a standing start no more than 1-2 feet from the door. Maybe the door's fiberglass or aluminum and is very light, but it still doesn't look right. And wouldn't you instictively remove your hand off the key when you first bump it?

Something's very fishy.

The article said the kid showed off the cars his dad tested a lot, so he most likely knew enough to push the clutch in to start it. I'd be willing to bet he revved the engine to show off for his friend and let off the clutch by accident launching it into the garage door at a few thousand RPM.

If you have RoW software (as I do on my car), you don't need to depress the clutch to start the car. It's possible, that since this was a press car, that it was not North American spec, and if that was the case, it's absolutely possible to crank it in gear and have it light.

As for me, I typically park in neutral with the e-brake, unless I'm on an incline.