Did someone in the United Arab Emirates really have the gall to drive a Cobra on its driver-side wheels?
If you go to YouTube and start watching videos with Ford Mustangs in them, you’ll notice a general theme. Most of the videos will show the drivers doing fly-bys or burnouts or donuts.
That makes sense. A Mustang is not meant to be driven slowly and mildly. As this video on the super.stangs Instagram page shows, someone in the Middle East took a totally different approach to driving their New Edge Cobra hard.
According to the geotag, this craziness took place in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Instead of blasting down a desert straightaway as fast as possible or pulling off a giant tire-smoking drift around a corner, the driver of this Mustang decides to go slow…and on only their driver-side tires.
Luckily, there are no other drivers around to be in harm’s way, but there is someone operating a camera to capture the odd stunt. Who knew there were fans of the 1988 movie “Twins” all the way over in the UAE (if you don’t get the reference, click here to see what we’re talking about)?
super.stangs asked the obvious question when they posted the video: Is this real or fake? As crazy as it looks, we think it’s real. Back in 2010, professional stunt-driver Jamey Smith showed Hot Rod magazine’s David Freiburger just what it takes to get a car on two wheels and to keep it there (aka “skiing”). A ramp to upset the balance of the vehicle definitely helps, but there’s more to it than that. Smith told Freiburger that in order for a car to ski, “It needs really good suspension, really good shocks, and all your ball joints have to be in good condition.” The driver of that car needs quick reflexes. Smith said, “It’s all throttle response and steering input from navigating the car from wrecking on its roof to going back down on all four wheels.”
Smith had those reflexes. Apparently, he had the right car, too. Surprise, surprise – it was a Mustang.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
