I was reading on another forum where it is believed that 44% of the Ford GTs have been totalled or have salvage titles. I did an image search of wrecked GTs....wow.
Pretty sad when we went to the Ford test track in Dearborn, they had 2 for just running around the property with, they told us they just couldn't scrap them. There is also one local, and the owner crashed it last year, and it's just sitting.
I'd never wreck that car... I'd just drive it to and from work everyday... (and probably wreck it on a hair pin turn in the winter...)
I'd probably never go past 20% throttle if I had one. Everybody says I drive like a granny. I just don't like tearing up my cars.
this is pretty common though when you consider how many Vipers and Vette's get smacked up too. IIRC.. when the Viper first came out.. the "average" insurance claim was over $50K per accident. Been saying it for years now.. just because you can buy a Corvette.. doesn't mean you know how to drive a Corvette. You can pretty much substitute the name of any other expensive/fast car into that sentence too. But personally.. I think the more accessible and inexpensive a particular fast car is.. the worse the issue as more average people think they have what it takes to go fast on public roads.
Having driven quite a few Vipers I can relate to the insurance claims. The cars are an absolute handful. That car is just on the edge of ripping the rear tires free at high speeds. Wont give numbers LOL. The torque is unreal. One little bump or dip and you know that back end is going to break lose. Real easy to get sideways at high speed. The new Viper should be somewhat safer with Ferraris input for trac control etc. I think all these super cars are a potential death trap for untrained drivers.
We lost one of the guys in our local Ford club, while he was driving his Viper (yes, Ford guys love Dodges too) He passed a transport truck, the car broke loose, and that was all she wrote...Pretty sad, and this guy was considered a good driver, he owned a number of high powered hot rods, but I guess the Viper was another animal all together.
I am a trained and experienced "Performance" driver if you want to call it that. Vipers are brutally unforgiving of the wrong input, be it from the pavement or the driver. I have driven every street version mother mopar has put out so far...I dont like em. I have driven a few GTs' as well...Other than the lack of visibility out the windows. (Can be a real PITA in traffic) The cars were a pleasure to drive, very well behaved. Heck my Muckstain GTs' rear suspension will unload and wander at 45mph in 4th gear over pavement that is pocked or undulates a bit. Scared the crap out of my wife first time it happened to her. All in all, any car can get you in trouble if you dont pay attention to what its telling you. Of course Vipers are like a woman having a bad day...They will snap on you at the drop of a hat!
A related event to this topic. We had the seats and some panels brought into the shop the other day for a Super Snake which gave the owner a little more excitement than he was expecting. From the story that was told it sounds like to much car for the driver. Bad part is there are no seat covers or panels available for the car in the color that they are so we will be making them from scratch. The guy from the body shop said there was $57,000 in damages done to it but because of the price of the car, insurance company is fixing it.
