Porsche 917 Started While in Gear & Naturally Disaster Ensues
What started as a special gathering of a baker's dozen 917s quickly went south thanks to a bad decision.
Special Gathering
It goes without saying that the Porsche 917 is one of the most iconic and successful race cars of all time. That's precisely why this year's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance held a special class just for Porsche's legendary racer, which wound up attracting 13 cars for a truly special event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Porsche's first overall victory at Le Mans. Unfortunately, things didn't exactly go smoothly, as we can see in this video from ENÖREV.
No Slap
Most of us that have driven a car with a manual transmission tend to give the shifter a slap or try to move it side to side before starting it to make sure it's in neutral. However, that isn't the case in this video, where we see someone attempt to start a Gulf liveried 917 while hanging outside the car, which leads to a wild-looking accident in front of the crowd standing nearby.
>>Join the conversation about this 917 mishap right here in the Rennlist forum.
Roaring to Life
The racer roars to life and lunges forward, taking the aforementioned person with it and careening toward a few bystanders in front of the vintage machine. The engine does stall after a second, as one might expect, but it's pretty wild that it made it as far as it did - chalk that up to the prodigious amount of torque the 917 produces.
>>Join the conversation about this 917 mishap right here in the Rennlist forum.
Could Have Been Worse
Thankfully, as bad as the video looks, the person that took an unexpected ride hanging off the side of the 917 hops right back up and even managed to start it up a second time - this time in neutral. The folks that were in the way were also able to get out of the path of the lunging vehicle and no one was injured, though things obviously could have been much worse.
>>Join the conversation about this 917 mishap right here in the Rennlist forum.
Double Check
It's hard to believe, watching this video, that everyone walked away unscathed. But since that's the case, we can not only enjoy watching the crazy scene unfold guilt-free but also use it as a PSA of sorts. No matter how long you've been driving a car equipped with a manual transmission, it's never a bad idea to reach over and check that shifter before you start it up, after all.
>>Join the conversation about this 917 mishap right here in the Rennlist forum.
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