[DeTomaso] Laurie Ferrari, Drewsastered! :>)

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

Hi guys,

Long-time forum and club members will know that I have a particularly acute 
reputation for causing virtually any Pantera within my reach to 
spontaneously fall apart.   Not by any direct action on my part, mind you; when I work 
on a Pantera, the thing I work on is always fine.   But just my presence 
seems to inspire Panteras to find new and inventive ways to achieve a 'failure 
to progress'.

This weekend I was down in So-Cal attending Grant Stockwell's memorial (a 
wonderful event, by the way).   While I was down there, I inspired Laurie 
Ferrari to get her beautiful GT5 out for a drive.   We drove it about nine 
miles, parked it in an open lot, and I took a handful of photos.   I asked her 
to turn it slightly to face the sun from a different angle.   She got in, 
started up, drove a few feet, and this was the result!

http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=28617

It turns out that it had been so long (years????) since Laurie checked her 
tire pressure, that her tire had virtually no air in it, and was reliant 
solely on the strength of the 40-series sidewall to keep it in place.   
Reviewing the photos shows no indication of this whatsoever, by the way.   But when 
she turned full lock to turn the car around, the severe scrub radius of the 
GT5 suspension geometry caused the bead to break and the tire completely 
deflated!

Fortunately this happened at sub-walking speed, and she only drove a few 
feet before stopping.

And here was the inevetible result: