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82-Year-Old-Looking WRC Legend Petter Solberg Pranks Mercedes-Benz Technicians

Ah, yes, the old professional racing driver in disguise taking unsuspecting passengers for a ride - it never gets old. The sheer panic on their faces as the car starts to gain speed or drift is pure gold.
Petter Solberg prank 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
This time, though, the people behind the farce took things a little further. It would appear that a helpless old man with more money than sense bought himself a Mercedes-AMG C63 S. To make it even more veridic, they went for what a man in his 80’s would choose: the T-Modell version, which is the name used by Mercedes to denote its station wagons.

He is pulled over to the side of the road in a precarious position, too afraid to continue moving because of a noise at the back of the car. The victims of this prank are the mechanics sent in to solve the man’s problem.

Of course, under all the makeup is none other than Norwegian World Rally Championship winner Petter Solberg. The Nord has just finished defending his WRX (World Rallycross Championship) winning a second title in 2015 with his PSRX Citroën DS3 Supercar, so his driving skills aren’t particularly rusty.

That’s not what he tells the mechanics, though. He invites them in the car where he has them take off their shoes - as any old man with a $100,000 car would - before creeping off the sidewalk with very unsure moves. The technicians can’t believe their luck: they’re stuck with an old madman that will be very hard to talk some sense into.

The just happen to pass by a relatively vacant parking lot, so Petter reverses in before doing a quick 180. That’s the first sign of things to come, and you can see the man responding to his distress call get a little worried. One of them even advises him to switch the ESP back on, probably thinking about his wife and kids he’d very much like to see again.

The old man ignores them and begins to slide the car around as if he’s been doing this for years. Which he has, only the guys sitting in the right seat have no idea about it. After a few laps, some begin to suspect there’s something fishy going on. They don’t know what exactly, but they decide to enjoy the moment. After all, what can go wrong? It’s not their car that risks getting hit, and the C63 is a safe enough car to withstand a crash at those speeds.

The funny thing is that Petter kept a straight face throughout the whole prank. He was so convincing as a moderately senile old man that you get the feeling he could cut it as an actor when he finally decides to give up on driving. Or, rather, IF he ever decides to give up on driving.

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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