I had one of these fantastic cars many years ago.

I was at a harbour a few ks out fo town, where we used to water ski.

In the afternoon, I was going to head back home. One of the yach engineers asked if I could give him a lift to town.

The road back to town is a straight road a few kilometers long.

As soon as we hit teh road, my passenger asked if thsi car would really do 260 kilometers an hour.

I said "watch", as I floored the accelerator.

He started counting the speed shown on the speedometer.

"Two hundred twent, two hundred forty, two hundred sixty OH MY GOD"

We had a double tyre blow out.

Both tyres on my side burst!

We skidded across the road to the other side - luckily there was no dividing partition. We then continued into the sand. I was waiting for the car to flip over.

It did not.
It just came to stop.

We measured that we skidded 1400 feet.

The rear wheel arch was damaged, but the car was perfectly fine to drive as soon as teh tyres were changed!!??

That engineer refused ride with me ever again!

Do you blame him?

Yikes -- consider yourself lucky for not getting scratched, and unlucky for the double tire failure!

Eish but you were a lucky man that day..... did you ever find out what caused the blowouts?

Replaced the tires but not the seats :-)

Tire technology wasn't what it is today.
The BMW M1 is a real milestone supercar but not super fast by today's standards.
I had a Porsche turbo for a while. It was fast in it's day, but just about any boy racer Jap car today can eat it's lunch. Do miss it a little though.

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Eish but you were a lucky man that day..... did you ever find out what caused the blowouts?

Yep, nails on the road.

There was a new construction site there, and apparently a truck dropped nails from a broken box.

I got a Porche 911 Turbo after that, which was a total disaster.

The first one would jugle about almost uncontrolaby at 180 Km/h - even Walter was getting scared.

The dealer could not fix it, so they gave me another one.

We went for a drive - with Walter again - with the roof open.

Before we hit 200 km/h the roof seal flew away.

They then gave me a third one, which caught fire while we were driving!

That is the last I wanted to do with Porche.

Eventually I got a specially made M5, through a contact I know at the factory.

That car hit a top speed of 202 miles an hour - that is 325 km/h.

One day I was driving on one of our highways - no speed limit then.

I was doing about 200, when I see this Porche 911 coming like a rocket, flashing his lights.

I moved to the right to give him way, at the same time, flooring the accelerator.

I could see him in my rear view mirror. First his gaining on me slowed down, then it stopped, then he started going backwards.

When he was far far behind, I looked at the speedo.

300km/h was the maximum speed on the gage, the needle was pegged way past that pointing straight down!?

I let go of the accelerator, until I slowed down to about 200.

That was the fastest I have ever driven any car.

The engine sound from that car pure magic!

At least you had a reason for the blowouts rather than an actual tyre construction failure...... not that it was any less scary for that I guess!

I'm also not a Porsche fan but do like the BMWs & Mercedes'.

Currently trying to buy either a Merc SL or SLC 450 from the late 70s or early 80s. Susan would prefer the SLC but I'd prefer the ragtop...... problem is I need to sell the Jeep to make room for the Merc and I'm finding it very difficult to bring myself to let it go........ but it needs to go simply because the spares are so difficult and expensive to get.

did it take a pry bar to get his butt un puckered from the seat?? I love to go fast my idea of fallowing the speed laws is double it and add 20 the guys with badges don't seam to agree at all

200 miles an hour man that must be a rush that must have been!!!!!!! i have done 130 on a motorcycle and 140 in a car but wow 200 would be cool

According to Einstein, with all your high speed travel, you should be a lot younger then you think you are.

I have totalled two other cars, and frankly, I have no idea why I haven't gotten a scratch.

I remember I just had a new BMW 730, and was at the port collecting pistols that have just arrived for me.

I had the pistols on the passenger seat next to me, and was going at speed. They were constructing another road parellel to the oen I was on, and there was a Caterpillar shovel driving in teh same direction as myself.

I was trying to overtake him, which he suddenly decided to make a left turn. I hit him smack in the middle, and moved him sideways quite a distance.

The windshield on my car shatterd out, and the pistols flew out, over the Caterpillar, and landed someways on the other side.

The engine block on my car cracked, but the door opened and I managed to get out.

It transpired that teh driver of the shovel was not licensed to drive on the road.

I had a bit of backlash on my neck, which hurt for a few days, but nothing serious.

Another time I was driving on the high between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It was a dual carriageway, with small trees in between.

I am not sure how fast I was actually going, but, generally on those highways with no speed limit I drive about 200.

I was in a BMW 635.

Suddenly, I found myself face to face with a camel crossing the road.

I hit him, he tumbled over the top, and fell of the back of the car, got up and ran a few yards and lay down.

Again, the windshield broke, but did not cave in. The roof of my car was dented, the rear wheel arches were bent outward, the floor of the boot was bent, but I walked away with no damage whatsoever.

I think I was very lucky, as a normal accident with a camel almost always results in a fatality, by crushing the driver.

The police said my speed might have saved me

I guess it says a lot for the build quality of the cars involved.

you have to be one of the luckiest men on the face on the earth to survive crashes like that at those speeds.

quote:

Originally posted by ddrhook:
200 miles an hour man that must be a rush that must have been!!!!!!! i have done 130 on a motorcycle and 140 in a car but wow 200 would be cool

Your math is off. According to the conversion table I just looked at 260 km per hour equates to 161.5 miles per hr. Still fast, but not exactly earth shattering.

When I was much younger and dumber, I bought a brand new 1978 Camaro with a 350 four bolt main and a 4 speed manual transmission. The speedometer on that car went to 140 mph and I buried the needle several times on the open highway. Don't know exactly how fast I was going since the needle was pegged out, but I was moving.

Now that I'm much older and much more sane, some of the stunts I pulled in my misbegotten youth seem crazy.

MAC,
reread Saeeds postings he did say he was doing over 325k thats 202 miles an hour

quote:

Originally posted by ddrhook:
MAC,
reread Saeeds postings he did say he was doing over 325k thats 202 miles an hour

My bust, missed that line.

you own me a beer in Dallas this year

What I want to know is,How hard was it to get the smell out of that first car.
I have had wrecks that totaled two of my cars and all I got out of it was a pissed off feeling ,Cuz it was the other folks fault.They ran out in front of me.

Car fires ? Recently a number of Ferrari fires got Ferrari to investigate them . Heat shields in the engine compartment had beenn attached with adhesive - which ignited when hot !!!

quote:

Originally posted by ddrhook:
you own me a beer in Dallas this year

Gonna be a long hot wait for that beer Buddy. I haven't set foot in TX in over 10 years and won't be there anytime soon. Military duties have been keeping me busy and deployed pretty regular for the past couple of years and will continue to do so for the next 3 years when Im going to hang it up and retire.

And then, I'm headed back to my beloved Colorado and with the exception of some antelope hunting in WY, I doubt I leave the state much after that. 25 years of active duty in the Navy has taken me back and forth across the globe many times. When I can get back home, I'm staying put.

But, if you want to get a free beer in an elk camp sometime, then I'm the man to see.