New Ford GT owner’s wreck blamed on poor stickshift skills

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“Walk before you run,” goes the saying, and it’s one probably also sagely applied to driving a manual transmission when you’re new to the gearbox. One Florida driver who may disagree with that mantra instead seems to have tried his own “crash before you walk” approach late April.

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Robert J. Guarini bought his 2006 Ford Heritage Edition GT for US$704,000 a month ago, but on one of his first outings in the car, as he left home, he regrettably ran his new acquisition into a palm tree.

The police report suggests he wasn’t able to control the vehicle after downshifting and crashed; however, in an interview with Road & Track, Guarini suggested old tires, muddy pavement, and a fresh detailing were also culprits, and that the pivotal loss of control happened as he shifted into second gear from first, not on a downshift.

It’s unlikely yet unconfirmed if speed factored in, and Guarini told R&T that was not a factor. “I don’t want people to think I was racing at 90 mph […] I was going 35 mph [56 km/h].”

Documenting the incident was Facebook user John Peddie, whose photos from the crash site reveal the damage to the classic Ford GT is mostly to the front third of the supercar. The impact was strong enough to deploy multiple airbags, disable the vehicle, and cause the car to slide so far after colliding with the tree that it blocked a nearby sidewalk.

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The cops said the car wasn’t registered or insured, but Guarini says it was covered under an umbrella policy, although he was ([in]conveniently) without the documentation when the crash happened.

Guarini was issued a citation for driving with a suspended license; and a warning for operating an unregistered vehicle. In the R&T interview, he said his license suspension was due to an unrelated department of motor vehicles “clerical error.” In any case, we wonder if it’s going to force him to walk — before he runs.