| Author | Message | ||
     Alan Dibley Prolific User Username: alsdibley Post Number: 153 Registered: 10-2009 |
This story of a (probably) unique occurance was submitted to the RREC magazine and that of the local classic club and not used in either case, so here it is "self-published". I the mid 1980s on a sunny summer Saturday (I think) morning my wife and I were in a taxi on Horse Guards Parade in London, going towards Parliament Square. We were in a line of stationary traffic for a minute or so. The car in front was a Rolls-Royce (I now reckon it was a Spirit but then I knew zero about such things), which began to move forwards - sign that we might not be late for our meeting. The Rolls stopped after a few yards and in a few seconds began to be wreathed in grey smoke. It looked like rubber smoke and began to smell like rubber smoke. In a few seconds the entire rear of the car was wreathed (nice word) in grey smoke. Nothing else moved except the horde of tourists taking photographs from the park side of the road. After a while the smoke dispersed and a chauffeur got out and walked around looking at the car and seeming confused. In another minute or so a well-dressed couple got out of the car, had a short conversation with the chauffuer and walked off towards Parliament Square. When our taxi-driver got out and saw that the traffic up ahead had moved he pulled over to the off-side and passed a queue of stationary cars which had been gathered in a neat line - bumper-to-bumper - by the Rolls deciding to take off on a mission of its own. The taxi-driver offered the theory that the car had engaged cruise-control and said to itself "40mph - no problem. Here we go." As we drove past I spotted a Volvo estate and a big Ford saloon among about eight or ten vehicles and a crowd of drivers and passengers looking at the carnage. I don't suppose anyone was hurt, the whole thing took place at low speed. I wish I had had a camera with me. I wondered how the rear tyres would be un-stuck from the tarmac when a breakdown truck had fought a path through the traffic jam. It was gone when we passed the spot on the way back that enening. Alan D. | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 2979 Registered: 4-2003 |
Alan, Interesting to work out what actually happened to cause the "burn-out" [I assume this is what happened]. If I had been driving, I would have hit the brake pedal to disengage the cruise control, put the car into Neutral to disengage the gearbox and then try turning the ignition off to stop the engine. | ||
| Alan Dibley Prolific User Username: alsdibley Post Number: 154 Registered: 10-2009 |
I assumed that the chaufuer was flummoxed by the situation and couldn't think straight. I imagine he put his foot on the brake pedal, but the engine (six and three-quarter litre V8 + low gear + torque-converter) versus the small rear brakes, which one wins? I suppose we'll never know the cause. Alan D. | ||
| Patrick Lockyer. Grand Master Username: pat_lockyer Post Number: 1931 Registered: 9-2004 |
Alan, reminds me of a long time customer who had the same sort of thing happen to him with his new Mercedes some years ago. He brought it in for us to check over as we were closer than the Mercedes dealership. The problem was that the car would not always slow to a stop but rather carry on if the brake was not applied in stop go traffic. After much checking with the car wheel free we found the over carpet would at times stick in the throttle linkage. Temp solution, cut the carpet with his permission! All ok. He returned to the dealership and informed them of the problem and after inspection was advised that car was safe to drive and a report was sent to Mercedes, that resulted in a recall on that model with new designed carpet being fitted. | ||
| ross kowalski Grand Master Username: cdfpw Post Number: 859 Registered: 11-2015 |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjvDj-vYPQc | ||
| Alan Dibley Prolific User Username: alsdibley Post Number: 159 Registered: 10-2009 |
Why? Twice. Alan D. Alan - enter key hit twice when posting [easy to do]- have deleted duplicate. Someone couldn't think of any thing else for their 15 minutes of fame - probably the idiot going off his head in the video.  | ||
| Larry Kavanagh Prolific User Username: shadow_11 Post Number: 202 Registered: 5-2016 |
As my late father used to say "Some people know the price of everything but the value of nothing". | ||
| ross kowalski Grand Master Username: cdfpw Post Number: 860 Registered: 11-2015 |
Destruction and tearing things down is a lazy man's game. I'd like to see any one of the film crew balance the connecting rods of the engine they just blew up. Kind of sad. |
