He was pulling up alongside me
but there was nothing I could do; my foot was planted to the floor, I was in fourth gear, the valves were whining their fucking heads off and this was as fast as I could go.

The corner loomed. He was on my outside, but I could see he was going to do it. I grit my teeth, wrenched the wheel into the corner, but it was too late, he was already in front, and I could see the rear quarter of his car, a garish yellow, disappear in front of my bonnet. That's when the impact happened. From behind.

In all the exitement, I hadn't seen the other guy, tearing up behind me. Same car as me too, but he was lighter, more grunt up front, and in anticipating the corner, he'd buried the snout of his motor right into my boot. Now we were proper fucked.

As he slammed into me, the nose rose, the steering went floppy and time slowed down. All I could see was the boot of the car in front somehow swimming its way up my bonnet towards my face. I shut my eyes and waited for the inevitable.

When I opened them, I could see blue sky. My seat belts were pinning me in, and I was looking through the hole where the windscreen used to be, and all I could see was sky. And smell petrol and oil and burning rubber. And there was a pain in my leg.

When they'd finally cut me out of the shell, including the piece of the door that had gone all the way through my calf, I got the chance to look over the side of the stretcher I was being carried on to see the wreckage. It was a Toblerone triangle; a three car shunt with my old Ford Cortina in the middle, mounting the car in front up if it was sticking its prop shaft right up the exhaust pipe, doggy style. I raised my hand to wipe my face, and the lookers on cheered, a few even clapped as I was put into the back of the ambulance.

And that's how my Mum found out I had started Banger Racing.

SHAMELESS PLUG: If you like old cars, check out sticksout.blogspot.com/
( Grrrmachine the indifference engine, Sat 24 Apr 2010, 19:01, 1 reply)

old cars
See my "A Buick called Bismarck" post a few pages back. I now have a 380SEC (W126)
(Redemption blamed it on the Bossa Nova since, Sun 25 Apr 2010, 0:26, closed)