Shifting An Old Car Into Reverse At Speed Is A Predictably Bad Idea

Occasionally the Internet throws us something out of a box clearly labelled: don’t try this at home. Smashing an old Opel Astra into reverse at 62mph is one of those things.

Gearboxes are not designed to shift to reverse while driving at anything more than a crawl. The straight-cut teeth on the reverse cog aren’t able to mesh at those sorts of velocities. In the video above bad noises happen, but YouTuber Master Milo can’t actually locate the gear properly until he’s slowed to a few miles per hour.

With more attempts using even more force and even less sympathy for the knackered old Opel, Milo ends up damaging the teeth of the reverse gear to the extent that the car will barely shift into it at all, not to mention there being a strong smell of fuel from the driver’s seat.

Handily, the second half of the video shows the inner workings of a small manual gearbox and visually describes what happens when – if – you’re daft enough to pull this stunt accidentally. Do try not to, though.