Who Knew Power-Steering Fluid is Flammable?Weve seen fuel fires and oil fires, and even the occasional brake fire, but a power-steering flameout?
We’ve seen fuel fires and oil fires, and even the occasional brake fire, but a power-steering flameout? That’s a new one. Paul Brown of Tiger Racing sent us this shot of their team’s SCCA World Challenge ’03 Mustang trailing flames thanks to a power-steering failure at the Portland race on July 31. Driver Carol Hollfelder pulled it off the track and set the grass on fire. Carol, a paraplegic, got herself out of the car just as the safety crew arrived to extinguish the flames, and the car was only a little worse for wear. The Mustang is a marvel of technology, with the throttle, braking, and shifting controls all integrated into the steering column (there are no pedals in the car), and a Ford factory-tuned and Vortech-blown four-cam engine with a Ford/Aston Martin/Tremec ASM paddle-shifted six-speed.
