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Old 06-19-2004, 08:58 AM
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Tirebiter Tirebiter is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Southern California & Hawaii
Posts: 690
1980. Working as chief mechanic at a Porsche/Ferrari/Audi dealer in SoCal. Every 930 Turbo got a PDI (pre delivery inspection) that included a 150 MPH test run to assure that the vehicle was stable at high speed. We were politely asked to move our high speed tests from the Rose Bowl area out to the less used 210 freeway.

CHP on 210 freeway gave me a ticket for 150 MPH in a 55 zone. At that time speed alone did not support a charge of reckless driving. I explained that I was working instead of just screwing off but it made no difference to him. Several times in the past I had not been cited by other cops when they saw the extra test gauges in the car and my uniform. Being an IMSA crew chief probably helped too.

When we got to court a lawyer friend of mine (and a long time Porsche owner) was sitting as judge pro tem and only winked at me when I came into court. While the CHP was testifing the judge asked him how he knew I was going 150 MPH. He said his speedo was calibrated to 125 MPH and I was pulling away until he red lighted me. The ticket was dismissed due to the fact he had not put down that the speed was estimated instead of by clock. Officer Knight was pissed off.

He was so pissed off that he laid for me and the next time he wrote me for 165 MPH estimated in a 55 zone (max speed limit in those days). He was so angry that he had hiccups while he wrote me up. Although he had my license, he wrote my name on the ticket as David Rusnak, probably because I had on a Rusnak Porsche dealership shirt. The next judge had to dismiss the ticket because of the wrong name

Outside the courtroom he promised me that the next time he would take me to jail for reckless. I promised him I would NEVER again stop for a CHP while on a test drive. We gave each other the finger as we parted. A few weeks later he was transferred to Indio California I was never cited again.

Only other incident worth mentioning was a 150 MPH run near Bakersfield in the rain. I was showing my girlfriend the benefits of night vision goggles (gen III) and had the cruise control set when we passed a CHP who was stopped giving someone else a ticket.
A half hour later we were at a restaraunt near Magic Mountain when he and his partner came in asking who owned the white Porsche parked outside. I owned up to it and his concern was more involved with no headlights than with the speed. He did mention that we were throwing up a 100 foot rooster tail
After a brief demonstration with the night vision goggles he let us go.

The last ticket I got stuck with was in 1982
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1984 300D
1985 300CD
1980 300SD
1993 SL500
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