One unlucky Porsche 911 Carrera owner found out at precisely the wrong time that he should have fixed his hood latch before heading out to Virginia International Raceway for a track day. Instead, he got a face full of hood, busted mirror and oops at 125 mph on VIR’s back straight.
While stock hood latches usually work fine for track day use, the driver writes on LiveLeak that the 996-generation car’s previous owner had damaged the locking mechanism, and that he had been procrastinating on a fix.
The Porsche in the video is a highly modified track toy equipped with tons of go-fast goodies, as the driver explains on LiveLeak:
The car is a 2001 Carrera Coupe (2WD) with full roll-cage, stock 3.4 engine, stock transmission, Moton Double Adjustable Club Sport shocks, Hoosier R6 tires, front and rear GT3 LCAs, Wevo motor mounts, adjustable rear toe links, Brembo Big Brake kit, solid subframe bushings, full open exhaust, EVO Cold Air Box & Filter, lexan front and rear windshields, and fuel cell.
I’ll bet the next mod will be hood pins. While the lexan windshield didn’t shatter, the rear-view mirror did, and the roof crumpled on impact.
Check out the post on LiveLeak for several other photos of the damage. Oh, and remember to check your hood before you head out to the track. It’s an item that can completely ruin your entire weekend, but not one that many people think of too often.
[H/T 996SPECticle on Rennlist]
Contact the author at stef.schrader@jalopnik.com.