Joy ride turns nearly fatal (Stolen Viper goes airborne after only 4 blocks)

Effingham (IL) Daily News ^ | 10.8.03 | KIM WIEDMAN

[mhking]

NEWTON - She had only been allowed out a few times for special occasions, and when she did go out, people couldn't help but stop and stare.

With her V-10 motor and six-speed manual transmission, there wasn't many like her on the road, and her owners, Kevin and Max Short of McClane Motors in Newton, knew how special she was. She was hand-assembled and part of a limited production.

After she was purchased in the later part of '94, when it was worth $60,500, the owners toyed with the idea of selling her, but with looks like hers, they couldn't help but become too attached.

On a few occasions, the McClane's had taken her out to show her off in parades and she did go on a few short trips here and there, but she was mainly used as an attention-grabber to attract people to the dealership.

On Friday night, she was driven proudly through the Newton High School Homecoming Parade, where she carried a queen candidate, Kevin Short's stepdaughter Emily Matson, for all parade-goers to admire.

Following the parade, she wasn't taken back to her normal storage area, but instead with her odometer set at 169, she was parked in the shop area of the dealership where her owners had intended for her to stay until the next day when they planned to take her out and show her off a little.

Her next trip, however, would come just a few hours later, when a driver she was unfamiliar with took her out for a spin.

As she left McClane Motors in Newton with the unfamiliar driver, no one could have anticipated what would happen next.

Just four short blocks from the dealership along Illinois 33, the '95 red Dodge Viper became airborne as the driver lost control causing the vehicle to strike a parked tractor at Newton Tractor Sales. The motor of the tractor was pushed back an estimated 6 inches, and the Viper was ripped to shreds.

Witnesses say they saw the Viper pass by around 4:05 a.m. Saturday at an excessive speed and then they heard the crash - which residents say was heard blocks away.

Kevin Short, general manager of McClane Motors, who has been around the car business as long as he can remember, said when he heard the news about what had happened to the car, he was in disbelief.

"I was pretty shocked about the whole incident," said Short. "We initially had gotten it as a possible vehicle to sell, but it is not a car that everyone in this area is going to buy. We had gotten attached to it."

Although it is unknown what the exact rate of speed the car was traveling when it crashed, Short said the car is capable of reaching a high rate of speed in a very short period of time.

According to a Web site that features specifications on that year of Dodge Viper, the Viper is capable of reaching up to 113.8 mph in a quarter of a mile, which is about the distance the Viper traveled before it was wrecked.

The car that was once admired as it traveled down the roadway now sits in an undisclosed location, and the driver of the car, Joshua S. Clasby, 25, of Greenup remains in critical condition at Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana.

Illinois State Police is continuing to investigate the crash, and Clasby could face criminal and traffic charges.

[blackie]

Lota speeding going on here. :)

[laotzu]

"Apparently, not even an oath signed in blood stating she will never be allowed to drive any of my vehicles is sufficient to dissuade the insurance companies from listing her as an "occasional driver".

I am certain that you can specifically exclude any named driver on your auto policy.

If your agent cannot help you, I suspect it is more that he is unwilling than unable.

[antiRepublicrat]

And Lotus is owned by Proton (Malaysia).

A lot of what you're talking is horses for courses. Put that 230hp Caterham or a 190hp Lotus Exige on an oval and theyll get killed against any of the better American sports cars.

However, put the same on a tight, twisty track requiring excellent handling and road feedback, and the American cars will be left in the dust.

I have a video of a 200hp 1.8l Elise keeping up with a 400hp+ 5.8l Corvette at Nuremberg ring, except it fell behind on the long straightaways. The driver almost passed him once on a curve, but he screwed up his line. The Corvette also had a big head start.

[truthandjustice1]

"The Corvette also had a big head start."

I have the same video. The Elise drivers look of frustration on not being able to keep up with the vette was amusing.

[walford]

"Lota speeding going on here. :)"

Well, now that I'm deeply into middle age, I am a responsible person. I drive a station wagon now, an '81 Olds Custom Cruiser. Of course, it is slightly modified.

The original diesel was replaced. [If you have the money to blow on a radical engine swap and are subject to emissions, start with a diesel vehicle. In most states they are exempt.]

In went a '79 Olds 403 that was bored 30-over and balanced. A modestly-enhanced cam was also installed. The tranny was replaced with a '79 Pontiac Turbo 400. The rear-end had to be swapped as well; the original one was geared too low - it screamed at 60mph. A low-restriction exhaust system provides a pleasing growl.

She won't lift up the front end, but makes good account of herself nonetheless. More then once have I enjoyed looking in the rear view at the astonished expressions of people who were just blown away by a gigantic old SW roaring past.

Now the cosmetic work remains.

[hopespringseternal]

Some large fraction of Vipers are totaled within 2 years. I believe the insurance for one is far and away more expensive than a vette for that reason.

My corvette (96 LT4 convertible) is the easiest to control car I have ever driven. You can screw up and wind up shiny side down, but you really have to be doing something stupid.

Some idiot kid in a viper is definitely going to make for a short drive.

[laotzu]

So....are we now saying that Malaysian cars are superior to German cars? Or that Panoz does not make a nimble car? Does a Shelby Series One really only perform well in a straight line?

How did Ford whup all those Ferarris, Porches, Mercedes, Alfa Romeos, & Audis, on their own European tracks, with a car that only performs well on an oval?

Ford(and, God how I hate Fords), did it with an all-around superior car.....just like Shelby before them; a car both more nimble, and more powerful.

[JayNorth]

Some of the drivers in those car magazine tests were terrible.

Like the time Car and Driver or Motor Trend (can't remember which) took four or five $120,000 plus cars on a 2,000 mile comparison run and blew the clutch on one after a couple of hundred miles? Confirmed what I had suspected for some time.

[blackie]

You have a great ride there ~ I love those older sleeper performance vehicles. :)

I'll be 73 on the 26th of this month and I drive this Ford F-150 SVT lightning, it comes with a 380HP, supercharged, 5.4L single overhead cam engine ~ I added a SuperChip and a K&N air cleaner, it now has 425HP and moves the almost 5K lb vehicle along rather smartly:

When not riding in the SVT Lightning, I throw my leg over this Suzuki SV650:

Old curmudgeon's like to go fast, too! :)

[JayNorth]

I am certain that you can specifically exclude any named driver on your auto policy.

If it were me I would talk to an attorney before I did that. If she sneaked the car out and crashed it you would still be liable (my opinion) with no insurance coverage. The few hundred $$$ you saved in premiums would start to look mighty good.

My kids are getting to that age, so I have a question: Did she learn from a family member or did she learn to drive from a professional? Have you considered a Bondurant or other driving schhol?

[Joe Hadenuf]

I fail to see the utility of a vehicle that is not driven. There are lots of Vipers on the road in CA...

Yeah, I see um all the time. No big deal.

Why are they calling this car a "her"? Wouldn't it be called a Dodge Viperess if it was a female?

[RatSlayer]

Yep, that's the one I was thinking of.

The original Super 7s were banned from SCCA racing because nobody could beat them. So the Super 7 owners started walking around the races in T-shirts that said "Too fast to race."

[RatSlayer]

The instance I was thinking of, was a British writer who was trying to get 1/4 mile times for a 427 Cobra.

This idiot actually admitted to roasting the tires in all four gears while complaining about how the bad the times were.

BTW, I chose the word 'roasting' carefully. He wasn't just chirping the tires. The test ending when the left rear tire failed and destroyed the left rear fender.

[antiRepublicrat]

Yeah, I was laughing too. The "What could I do against that?" hand gesture was great when the Corvette pulled off on the straight. On the straighs, there's just no substitute for massive torque and high gearing.

I watched the video with a friend who knows the Ring quite well, having driven it hundreds of times mainly in a souped up Ferrari 308, a 450hp Nissan Skyline and a Lotus Elise. He showed me in the video all the mistakes the Elise driver made -- wrong line, wrong curve entry and exit points, wrong acceleration and braking points, etc. He could have passed the Corvette, but then he would have lost the lead on the next long straight anyway.

[laotzu]

"If it were me I would...."

You make an outstanding point. Carefull consideration is definitely warranted.

[walford]

"If it were me I would talk to an attorney before I did that. If she sneaked the car out and crashed it you would still be liable..."

I lent my brother a car for a month in a January a few years back. It was very stupid of me [as everybody who knew him repeatedly told me] because he is not exactly responsible, but he was relatively clean and as always, he was broke.

After a couple of months rolled by, I asked for the car. By the time July came, I DEMANDED said vehicle. Finally, he said that he wouldn’t give it back until he was good and ready, because he felt he ‘needed’ it more than I [I had a company-provided delivery wagon]. Upon advice of friends and relatives, I went to his jurisdiction and filed a complaint for Unauthorized Use of a vehicle. Beforehand, from the commissioner’s office, I even called him [I had his number but not his exact location - otherwise I would have just ‘stole’ it back] and told him what I would do if he didn’t bring it back. No dice.

OK, fine. Of course, there was no expectation that the police were going to set up a dragnet to get my ride back, but if he got pulled over I would get a call. As soon as I signed the complaint, my insurance would not cover the car, so I didn’t need to keep paying the premiums. This of course led to the DMV condemning the license plates. When VA demanded them, I sent a letter explaining the situation.

Well in Feb. the following year, I got a letter from an attorney representing the owner of a car that was found smashed by my abandoned Chevy. I was able to cite a case number for the Unauthorized Use, which exempted me from having to pay for some other poor slob’s car on top of losing mine.

Bro ended up serving six months for that, because of his growing list of priors. My mother actually lent him her car a year or so afterward, with which he absconded to a bad part of Baltimore, wrecking it also. Fortunately she also swore out charges on him, seeing how doing so protected me. As of this writing, Bro is in jail for something, I honestly don’t know for what. He’s better off. Of course you don’t need to tell me that we were doing him no favors by bailing him out so many times before…

My advice: if someone takes off with your car, call the cops immediately. Even if you gave permission, if they don’t bring it back when you agreed to, they are STILL in violation of the law. You are liable for whatever they do until and unless you file charges. Don’t feel bad about sending a friend or relative behind bars. Feel bad about HAVING to. They didn’t value your relationship enough not to take what is yours and put you in legal and economic jeopardy, did they?

[Shooter 2.5]

You do understand there are people who collect things, don't you?

[Vigilantcitizen]

Dang rank amatuers give us real "stunt" drivers a bad name.

[Proud_texan]

Gotta agree, I had a '66 goat with a 3/4 cam, oversized cylinders with double dome pistons and three duces. Firebirds and SS-396's routinely beat me.

Not the '68 Hemi-cuba tho. Man that was one dangerous car. Loaned it to someone, and even with a serious warning they gave it a might too much gas and did a 180 going north on a rain slick highway 101 just before the Marin tunnel. Couldn't salvage the results.

Still not as scary as my 420hp SVT Lightning. I won't let anybody else drive it, with the light rear end if you're pulling into traffic and give it too much gas the streets don't even need to be wet to spin out. It's mostly a show car, never have run it in the quarter (just not many places to do that these days) but I suspect it'll go around 11 and change.

If you know how to drive 'em it sure is fun to have all that horsepower.

[mylife]

"I was in the Navy, and referred to my ride as a boat."

You must be a fellow bubblehead.