'Ghost car' causing a stir

2004-11-23 10:54

Carin Smith

Cape Town - The mysterious way in which a car could "jump" backwards by itself is still baffling everyone who hears about it.

Nine people, including two police officers, apparently heard a Renault Megane roar before it "jumped" backwards twice - and uphill at that.

Chris Siebert, regional manager of Renault in the Western Cape, said he has never heard of anything like this.

"A car weighs nearly a ton. If the engine is shut down, it is just a heap of metal. Are you sure the people hadn't been drinking tequilas?" Siebert joked.

Nadeem Gamiet, technical co-ordinator at Renault in Cape Town, who has been in the industry for 30 years and was trained in France, was equally sceptical.

"Where did the combustion come from if the car was not switched on? I cannot believe it. It is quite scary," Gamiet said.

He is sure there has to be an explanation, but did not want to comment before examining the car.

Clinton Viret, service advisor at Renault in Cape Town, said the event was technically impossible. A car can "jump" only when it is in gear and switched on.

"Maybe there were ghosts," mused mechanic Lino Engel.

Ghost Hill

A friend has apparently shown him a stretch of road in Somerset West where a car can roll uphill if taken out of gear, but one apparently has to step on the petrol to go downhill.

"That is Ghost Hill," said a resident of Somerset West who often takes guests there to watch their surprise when a car runs uphill by itself.

"It wasn't Ghost Hill that sent the car at the Roosboom guesthouse through its paces," says owner Mabel Schietekat. "The steering wheel was locked and the handbrake on."

She says her phone has been ringing off the hook since the report.

A man from the Free State phoned to ask whether there wasn't perhaps a sinister 666 on the car's number plates.

The manager of the company that rented the "jumping" car to German tourists said they were still investigating a possible cause.

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- Die Burger