A replica Porsche 356 found itself swimming in a canal after getting unceremoniously dumped in the water by a delivery van. The incident was brought to our attention by London-based publishing company Unbound, which tweeted the aftermath of the incident that happened near the company’s headquarters. It’s unclear what happened after the replica 356 went for a swim, but it was eventually fished out, looking, as Unbound put it, “forlorn” after getting dumped into the water. Either way, it’s highly unlikely that it’s going to function as well as it did before it took a dip in the canal.

This is as bizarre an accident as it gets. In the beginning, it wasn’t clear what happened to the replica Porsche 356. How did it end up in the water? Was the driver driving the car when he lost sight of the road? Questions came aplenty, but thankfully, Unbound brought some much-needed clarification on the incident courtesy of some CCTV footage of the incident that it obtained from a coffee shop near its office.

Apparently, the replica Porsche 356 was sitting pretty in its parking slot, minding its own business. Then, from out of nowhere, a white delivery van bursts into the scene, backing up aggressively and hitting the replica 356. The force of the impact was enough to literally send the replica 356 flying into the water. Ouch.

There’s no getting around the sinking feeling — pun definitely intended — a lot of us got when we caught wind of this incident. Judging by how fast the driver of the van was backing up into the parking space, it looks like he couldn’t see the Porsche from his vantage point. Maybe the van’s side mirrors were adjusted a little too high to see the roofline of what is admittedly a low-slung 356. Perhaps the driver was just sleepy, distracted, or completely inattentive to his surroundings. Whatever the case is, someone will have to answer for this.

On a much lighter note, it is comical to see how the Porsche 356 got punted straight into the waterway. I’d probably believe you if you said it was actually a stunt meant to get a viral reaction. The way the 356 literally flew into the canal reminds me of one of those old Mr. Bean skits. Unfortunately, this doesn’t appear to be staged, nor is it part of a bigger ploy in the name of clickbait. The replica Porsche 356 literally got dunked in the water. Good thing that it was a replica, too, because if it were an actual 356 Roadster, we’d have a very different reaction of the ordeal.

Further reading

Read our full review on the 1948 - 1965 Porsche 356.