Well today after driving home from visiting a friend, I came home parked my car and went inside for a bit. Hour or so later I decided I wasn't going out again and went out to to put her away. And I found out the car went down my driveway through the bushes to the left, down a steep hill only to go across the street and hit some small trees which stopped it. All of this credit is due to the parking brake snapping.
My driveway it went down

Now to the damage.




I know im going to be lectured about leaving the car in gear but trust me my dad has already told me it enough.
The damage is the back bumper, the spoiler middle is cracked, one tip is scraped up, and the driverside quarterpanel is really scratched up (which is convenient as it has some rust starting to bubble up). Also some minor scratches on the doors and fenders and the front is a bit messed up from going down the hill. The exhaust was also off on a hanger but I fixed it before the pics. Nothing mechanically wrong that I can tell of so far.

 

That sucks bad, however, it COULD have been worse. At least it didnt roll, hit a house, run over a kid, run over a neighbor, get hit by another vehicle, KILL someone.... I think your a lucky fella.

 

yeah, it sucks. I rolled my car into a guard rail because i did not have a parking brake. Live and learn i guess

 

That's almost the exact same speech my parents gave me. However, I wouldn't say "lucky", more like fortunate

 

....

 

Better word.... fortunate

 

Bummer...didn't you have a build thread where the car had just been painted in the last year or so?

 

Yeah the build thread was for my ls1 swap which I probably mentioned on how the car was painted not to long before that. Right now im debating on a cheap macco paint job or re do it ourselves.

 

maaco

 

The same thing happened to my son - his camaro rolled down the driveway, did a 180 degree turn into the neighbors drive, clipped a tail light lens off her car and then hit her garage door. Then...it rolled forward across the street into the other neighbors driveway! Had to fix the garage door, took about an hour, was able to glue the lens back on - popped it off the back plate in one piece with only a little scrape on his rear fender. Everyone was amazed!! He always sets the parking brake now

 

Kinda curious how it did a 180 if it the steering wheel locks when the key isn't in the ignition?

 

The way he parks in our drive his wheels were turned, so they were locked into the turn. If they had been straight, he would have just rolled down and across the street. Like I said....amazing

 

i even set my park brake inside the flat garage.

 

Got some day time pics today of the damage to the yard. Really makes you wonder how it missed the blazer in my yard.


the second picture is where the exhaust dug into the dirt. Id also say im fortunate the front clip didnt get ripped off at that spot

 

Back in 86, my 83 Z28 was parked at the top of my driveway in NJ. I just finished washing it and it was bucked up my driveway. The car was in gear and the e-brake was on. I walked to a friends house down the road. I returned home at dusk and saw a large shadow in the woods across the street from my house. As I got closer, I saw that it was my car. It somehow rolled down the driveway, jumped the 2 foot buildup on the edge of the road and lodged itself between two large trees. The rear tires were off the ground! When we tried getting the car out, the doors were still locked, the car was still in reverse and the brake was still on! Absolutely no damage to the car. Not even a scratch. We still have no clue how car jumped the berm without damaging the front spoiler. Luckily, the berm of the road was covered with snow which made pulling it out easy on the undercarriage.

 

Lodged between two trees with no damage?? Now that is lucky! And ever find out how it exactly made its way down your driveway in reverse with the p.b. set?
almost makes you wanna see how it got down scratchfree

 

You're fortunate. At least it didn't end up like this;

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...w-morning.html

 

I came home one day in my '83 Z/28, put it in park, and went in the house. Was on the phone with a friend about 10 minutes later in the living room, when movement out the front window caught me out of the corner of my eye. My car was rolling slowly downhill!
I ran outside while digging my keys out of my pocket, trying to get the keyless entry to unlock the door while comically attempting to drag the car to a stop (it was still only moving about 3 mph thankfully...Our street is a slight downhill, but not very steep). The keyless entry chose that day to be finicky and refused to unlock (probably because I was mashing the buttons like a madman!), but I finally got it to stop by bracing against the front bumper.
What caused the problem was the shifter cable was slightly out of alignment, which means even tho it seemed like the car was going into park, even as far as the interlocks are concerned, it actually was halfway between park and reverse and not properly locking the 700R4. I should have but hadn't been using my parking brake, so when the car finally overcame inertia there was nothing to stop it other than my casual glance out the window. I caught it about 4 feet from hitting my neighbor's parked car.
Needless to say I've thoroughly re-adjusted the shifter cable and made damn certain my parking brake is properly tensioned, and I use it religiously now.

You got lucky on your car, it looks like all your damage is cosmetic, and fairly minor at that. No dents, the cracked spoiler is a simple fiberglass repair, your ventshade tail light covers saved your tail lights, and exhaust tips are replaced easily enough for cheap. I'ld repair the paint yourself, wet sand and polish it out with rubbing compound, and count yourself lucky you got away with what little damage you did. If you had been in a suburb you could have been in a whole 'nother kind of hurt had it rolled into something...or someone!

 

at least it didnt happen while you were in the car...... listen to this....i was backing out of my driveway last year going to buy new break pads when my car stalled, breaks gave out, hence going to buy pads and i kept rolling out of the driveway and into the street and the car coming down the street proceeded to take out my back bumper. pretty sure i cried that day, but all good now.

 

. Now thats lucky! I think even i saw my car i wouldnt have been able to stop it. Im not sure if i mentioned if but how i dont have more damage is beyond me. Im real surprised the front clip wasnt ripped off. And we are going to repaint it, the bumper on one side is very chipped up and bubbled up and the other side had the paint scrapped off and you can see the "original" paint.

Also iansane, even though it was years ago im sorry to see that! I would of done the same as you brother. Haha ever get that parking brake installed?? And did you end up repainting/repairing that car or did you find a donor?