John Struthers

Slightly
I've done this before ... and was just curious; how many of you have tossed the keys to your sHARk to a family member or a friend and let them drive away?
I've LET the wife cruise off twice.
My friend Jesse...once. He still talks about it ... Hmmm...
My friend Rusty ... after he handed me the keys to the vette', once!
He drove 2 miles with the handbrake ON after I pointed it's location to him. He said it was FAST but the engine/drivetrain seemed to be straining...
Never again! The Horror, the horror... Damn vette' drivers!
Both my son and daughter took their drivers test in the sHARk as well.
Anyhow!
What got me thinking about this was my old neighbor Carl B. inherited a Diablo -red, of course - and that white McClaren that was in Car and Driver/Road & Track amongst others about three years ago when his father died 2 years ago.
Anyhow, this past weekend in a act of sweeping grandure Carl let a friend drive the Diablo. He, the friend, almost ran Zack over in the Mall parking lot.
Zack said it would be an honor.
Then a co-worker watched the guy romp on it -smoking the tires- missed 2nd gear, ugly shift gates, no? Finally ground it into 2nd , lit em' up again and went
fishtailing over an 8 inch curb -ever see how low a Diablo sits?- across a turn lane then across a traffic island with similar curb dimensions before shreiking out of sight southbound on Midkiff road. There was no confirmation on a shift to third ...
Well you get the gist, anyone have a: 'there but for the grace of God go I' story?

Daniel Dudley

Uh, my sisters boyfriend destroyed third gear in my car 50 yards from the house 20 years ago. 10 years ago I was in a just broken in car and watched my buddy hit 7500 on the tach and he was going to keep it there in third like forever. He was very sad that I wouldn't let him touch my baby after that. Recently a friend hit 100 + in my S4 on a narrow street with lots of driveways. I guess he was showing me he has big *****. Very stupid he was.
I once punched a guy out for driving on the wrong side of the road around a blind corner. He didn't get it.

Scott M.

Sadly, most people know my reputation and would never had me their car keys.

But once, my buddy Evan handed me the keys to his 2600 mile 90 ZR1 vette. Dumbbastard Last thing I heard (over the squeeling tires) was; "you'll be careful, right??" 143mph later, all was good.

WallyP

One cold, snowy night at the Chimney Rock Hill Climb deep in the heart of the North Carolina mountains, a guy that I had never met before tossed the keys to the first Cobra brought into Atlanta to a skinny little college kid. The top was down, I had on a sport coat, and I was gone for twenty minutes.

He was pi--ed - but only because I left gingerly, and he wanted to hear it wind out. He would have gotten his wish if he had been a couple of miles down the road...

He later offered me the car for $2800 - but by then I had a kid and a morgage. I still mourn about that.

Fabio421

I had my very recently exe'd girlfriend call me one eavening to ask for my assistance. She had wrecked her Celica and didn't have anyone else to call. I drove over and sat with her while she waited for the cops. We got the car to my house and covered it up to keep the neighbors happy. Then I gave her the keys to my new Shark. Well it was new to me. I had only gotten it a few weeks prior. She drove it for about a month and a half while I fixed her Celica. She loved it and didn't want to drive the Celica anymore.
Recently I was down in the keys when my current girlfriend called to tell me her Geo Metro wouldn't start. I walked her through a few rudimentary tests and diagnosed it as a bad starter. I told her to leave it until I got back into town and to drive the Shark if she needed to go anywhere. She argued with me because she was scared of hurting my beloved 928. But the next day she needed to get to work and I still hadn't gotten back in town. I recieved a call from her after she arrived at work. She excitedly told me that she was at work, the car was unhurt and that it "kick's ***". I can only imagine how it must have felt to her. Going from a Geo metro to a 5 speed 928.
I really enjoy letting other people drive my cars. I know how much it meant to me when someone would entrust me with a fine automobile and it helped to nurture my passion for cars. I hope I can help the next generation do the same.

Alan

"...my cold dead hands" comes to mind...

Actually I'd let my wife drive the car - but she's not at all interested - I'm quite OK with that. She still sometimes grabs the seat when we go around corners too...

My 13 year old son keeps asking when he can drive it... I keep telling him I'm paying for his education so that he can afford the Porsche of his choice and leave mine well alone - He keeps asking though!

So in a year or so (...?...!..) I'm going to have to lock up all the keys... (scenes from Ferris Beuller come to mind at this point...)

Alan

wds928

I let a friend's son take the 94 GTS to the senior prom. He took great care of it and was the envy of all. This is a kid who says "yes sir", "no sir", "thank you Mr. Sanders" and means it. As a high school graduation present, I gave him a framed photo of him with the shark.

markscott

I'm in the exact same situation as Alen with the wife and ever asking 13 yr. old!

Ketchmi

My ex fiance never wanted to drive my 928 and I didn't push it...

Ferris B

My father-in-law let my dad drive his 911 C2. My dad, used to a 1979 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, backed straight out of the driveway and the sound of the curb ripping at the front spoiler nearly made me sick.

Oddly enough, after I got my 928, I offered my dad the keys. Thankfully he refused.

My father-in-law also let my wife drive his 930 once. She got so excited as she jumped on the freeway that she forgot to upshift from 2-3. We were scratching 7000 rpm when she finally remembered. "Oh, I guess I can upshift" she says.

My father-in-law has always been pretty generous with his cars.

whitefox

Since I'm still in High School I get kids asking for rides and to drive the shark all the time, I love my car.

Fogey1

To you Dads - I was stealing my parent's car's in the wee hours before I was 15.

My Dad got rid of the sports cars when I was about 14 and didn't get more until my little brother was about 20. He probably saved my life. OTOH, he let me drive a 356SC he had for a test drive when i was 16.

I have friends with a fine touch, that I'd trust, and friends who have proven themselves ham-fisted that i wouldn't.

I can't imagine loaning any car to someone I hadn't ridden with, in at least some car. Or the 928 to someone I'd hadn't ridden with in the 928 or equivalent.

hinchcliffe

Not a big fan of people driving my car. Too many bad axperiences with a brother who has wrecked many of my cars. And the fact that to my father a car is just a car, and I've seen him try to power shift other cars. I'd prefer not to have to pay for their screw-ups on my car.

1981 Shark

Once while in college, a buddy of mine was driving his brother's 1985 300ZX Turbo and left it and the keys at my house. Another buddy and I (on our way to participate in a Fraternity initiation (READ: MASS QUANTITIES OF BEER) were taking turns driving and seeing who could get the car going faster before either of us chickened out (READ: DUMBER THAN DIRT). Fortunately (or more likely UNfortuately) I was winning when I passed the state trooper doing 110+. Got pulled over (obviously) and was in the throws of a field sobriety test when the state trooper got a call to immediately report somewhere else; to what I don't know and didn't care. He let me go and go I did, a lot less slower, though. I imagine that I'd still be under the jail if all had played out like it could have.

My stomach still does a couple of flips just thinking about it, and it's been over 20 years ago! It truly is only through God's grace that I am telling this story; otherwise I'd have been roadkill somewhere in the southern portion of McClennan County Texas. Oh, and yes, the thought of my sons driving my car does scare me a little bit, too! Having that experience and having kids has allowed me to grow up quite a bit...

Imo000

Last fall, right after the SC was finally installed and a day after I came back from the drag strip. I went to help out a friend with his house renovation. One of his buddy (a teacher) had his 16 year old son (student at the same school where his father teaches) there to help. He kept asking the usualy "Fast and the Fuirous" questions about the boost gage, does it have NAAWZ and such. This didn't bother me casue at least he showed interested in the 928. At the end of the day I asked his father if it would be ok for me to take him for a spin. We went for a drive that was pretty much same as the night before at the drag strip (pedal to the metal). We hit 220km/h is a matter of seconds and I figured that is enough for the day. When we got back a few minuters later he was grinning ear to ear. Two weeks ago I saw his father at a family GTG and he tells me that the his some pretty much made my '85 a lengend in his highschool. This made me laugh, thinking "Get then early and make sure they are hooked for life". I'm fairly sure that for the next little while he'll want nothing more than a supercharged 928!