I've had three offs (so far).
First was aged 17 in Anglia - two mates in car. Took a corner too fast and went up the bank, but stayed upright. Only damage was a dent behind the rear wheel, which I knocked out with a hammer in a very untidy fashion. The car was old and rotten so it didn't matter.
Second 'off' was aged 18 in a Mini on black ice while racing a mate who had an Imp. We were racing to the pub. He got round the bend but I was mesmerised by how far sideways he got it in each direction. I was behind because he was quicker in a straight line.
With sudden terminal understeer my feeble attempts to aviod the ditch full of icy water failed. The Mini literally gyrated side to side until I went between two posts and hit the grass bank.
I came to rest with the front offside wheel overhanging the water filled ditch and the car hanging at 45degrees in true Italian Job style. I rocked back & forwards but it was stuck fast, so I opened the door and had to hold onto the roof guttering to get out. The rear nearside wheel was literally two feet in the air. An old guy came past in a big Vauxhall. Hitched a rope to the Mini and pulled me back onto the road. Apart from grass sods stuck underneath there was no damage, so I carried on to the pub.
My third off was as a passenger in a Viva HC. The driver wasa family friend of mature years - maybe late 40's at that time. We were en route to Croft for the Easter race meeeting. At Wetherby the A1 used to take a right (third exit) at a roundabout - so all northbound traffic approached in lane2. The day was bright but wet. As we approached the back of the long queue, the speed didn't reduce - we must have been doing about 60mph. Rather than hit the car in front, he swerved into lane1 which was empty. Until somebody a couple of car lengths in front got fed up of waiting and pulled out into lane1 just in front. We were still doing 60, so Colin swerved onto the grass verge to avoid the collision. The verge slopes away from the road there and there was a large roundabout sign on two concrete posts. By now we are out of control on wet grass and heading straight for the left hand post which was at least two feet square and solid concrete. Collision look inevitable, but by some miracle we missed it. Later we looked at the hole in the fence and how we got round that post and through the fence behind it remains a mystery. The fence was a robust three bar effort - the timbers were probably 2" by 6". We smashed through them as if they were'nt there, and through the hawthorn hedge behind, in Dukes of Hazzard style. We crashed down into a ploughed field which took the speed off and we rolled to a stop amid a cloud of steam. Looking back there was a row of spectators stood at the fence looking at us. We got out without a scratch. Colin didn't even have his seatbelt on. We opened the boot to get the flask of tea, but the flask had smashed inside..........
There was a six foot length of fencing impaled in the front of that Viva like a javelin. It had penetrated the grille, and the radiator, and impacted so hard on the front of the block, that the force had shoved the rear axle back into a V shape....... The theory was that the rubber mat had ridden up onto the organ accelerator pedal.
The angels were with us that day.
