Shelby Cobra Wrecked In California Highway Crash

Driving something like a Shelby Cobra on the open road sure can be a lot of fun, but you still have to stay aware of the risks. We know from personal experience hearing the roar of a V8, feeling the road through the steering wheel, and having your hair whip around in the wind can be intoxicating. But as the driver of this car found out in a hurry, things can suddenly go wrong if you don’t stay on your toes.

Watch a Chrysler 300 Hellcat run from police.

According to California Highway Patrol, the driver was tooling along when he encountered a “wet patch of roadway” while dropping the hammer in the Shelby. In case you didn’t know, accelerating hard on wet pavement in any vehicle is a bad idea, but it’s especially not good in a lightweight, high-powered, rear-wheel-drive roadster.

The Shelby of course lost control and skidded off the road, constituting a true Code Brown moment for the driver and his passenger. Fortunately, a metal guard rail was there to stop the Cobra from going further.

But that guard rail also did some serious damage to the car, which lost its front driver’s side wheel and has quite a bit of front-end damage. In fact, both headlights seem to be missing and the stuff on the pavement in front of it would indicate quite a bit of fluid was lost. Plus, the windshield is all crackled.

We suppose this could’ve been worse. After all, the driver and passenger both walked away without any serious injuries. They could’ve died. The Shelby could’ve collided with a much larger car. This is why you as the driver need to stay keenly aware of road conditions, even when you’re out just having fun. Pushing the envelope in your hobby car almost guarantees failures and when things go wrong they happen fast at higher speeds.

Images via CHP – East Sacramento