He should have checked that the gearshift was in neutral.
Always pay attention to the vehicle you are unfamiliar with. Watch this video to see a young man smashing a Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R against a garage wall.
The clip shows the car moving, the driver getting out and the car lurching against the wall. We are fairly certain that this is what happened after some discussion with the motor1.com team.
The GT350R starts easily. The Mustang’s clutch interlock means that the driver must keep the pedal down to start the engine. The car then jumps forward. The main reason is that the young man thinks the car is in neutral but it is actually in first gear. The vehicle would accelerate forward if he took his foot off of the clutch.
This lapse of attention would not have been a problem if there was nothing in front of the Mustang, or if its nose was facing inward. GT350R was unfortunately facing the wall. The young man’s shriek as soon as he got out from the car was clear that he had made a mistake. It would have taken just a few seconds to avoid this crash by simply adjusting the gearshift so that it is in neutral and not in first.
The good news is that most of the damage to Mustang’s body will be cosmetic. The Mustang’s impact is absorbed by the corrugated metal wall, which bends when it hits it. While the dad of the kid is likely to be furious, it’s possible that he’s more concerned about destroying his sports car than the damage.