1964 Mercury Comet destroyed...

[BlackSheep214]

Came across this YouTube video the other day. $208,000 and 23 years building it gone in mere seconds.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5oO226PgSkg

You can’t fix stupid. Over at modelcarsmag forums, this topic really lit it up in the forums blaming the builder/owner for stupidity. Shawn from Autopia is an idiot too for not wearing a 5 point harness. It’s a wonder neither were killed in the process.

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topi ... -opinions/

I had first posted the ‘64 Comet brake failure incident in another thread before the OP posted it two days later.

[jeaton01]

Darwin incarnate.....

Reminds me of many other similar incidents. Once we we had a guy on a swather (hay cutting machine) that got confused about how the turning controls worked, and jumped off rather than just shut off the engine, letting it run across the field until it crashed in a canal. The brain sometimes stops functioning when panic sets in. I think that is what Yeager was alluding to when he said "You have to fly it all the way through the crash".

[scorpiomikey]

The man was clearly proud of his machine.
But when he realized he had to ride the brakes just to keep it at the speed limit, his 17 year old brakes, he maybe should have taken a moment to rethink the drive.
If youre on a shakedown drive, which this seemed to be? You buckle up every possible buckle you have. Because if somethings going to go wrong, it will go wrong then.
No word on the people in the minivan? I feel really sorry for them.

[BlackSheep214]

Better question is the driver of the Mercury Comet.... how many traffic ticket violation did he receive after the accident. Had it been a small sedan, be it a Corolla, Civic, or Jetta... the outcome probably would have been worse.

According to the comments section from the builder/owner of the Comet, he said probably not injured. How would he know?

So many red flags went up besides brake failure. If you watch the video, sticky accelerator was the first red flag, burning smell from brakes - which he starts riding his brakes. Speed because accelerated from high revving. Both driver and passenger chose to wear lap belts instead of the 5 point harness. Any normal person would pull over immediately under those red flags. Not this idiot, he continues to drive on. Oh let’s not forget there was no evidence of hand emergency brakes.

Wheelie bars? That automobile is not built for street driving. It’s built like a Pro Street considering it has a big block 600 plus c.u. engine under the hood that’s pulling in 1300 horsepower. They should have ran a test run out on a straightaway race track or parking lot before driving out on the highway.


And he admitted he had liability insurance on the car. WHAT!?!?

Now the.builder/owner now wants to rebuild. Heh... he’ll go bankrupt.

[keavdog]

I'm sure those brakes work fine if they are properly setup. They way he pumped that brake pedal makes me think he had zero pressure in the lines. I know this from experience . If you don't route your brake lines- especially the ones from the hardlines to the calipers they can get cut over time. That would be my guess, because thats what happened to me - fortunately in a parking lot doing 3 MPH

[BlackSheep214]

It’s possible. I think there’s more than the choice of brake set up. Something made the accelerator sticky yet, he was riding the brakes thus causing the smell from the brake pads while doing so. Perhaps the brake lines blew out? I don’t know. Regardless, it is a massive brake failure. Had he installed an emergency hand brake, he probably would been able to stop. We will never know.

[Stuart]

Very very lucky nobody as seriously injured - and a lot of valuable lessons learned I think - of you take a look at the channel the next video is a Q&A that runs for an hour.

Personally, if I was ever to mod a car, I'd always do the brakes first, as the exact same thing happened to my Dad and his friend in a classic mini of all things. They dropped a bigger engine in it, but left the brakes stock drums all round. Suffice to say they hit a wall having had complete brake failure. The next one they did had major disc's on all four wheels before they did anything to the engine.

Anyone that just wears a lap belt is an idiot.

[BlackSheep214]

Funny thing is the brakes he had the top of the line setup 20 years ago. With brake technology changed since, he’s running on 20 year old brake set up.

[Stuart]

Agreed, that did seem a rather strange thing to do.

[Medicman71]

And this gentlemen, is why I have a job.