Well, last Saturday was not a good day!

After attending a local NCRS judging event, my wife and I drove our 67 coupe home. Along the way, we stopped to do some shopping. I parked on a side street, on a slight hill.

As we walked about half a block along, we heard a loud BANG! behind us. To our horror, the Corvette had popped out of gear and rolled down the hill, impaling itself against a steel post and chain fence.

The good thing is it could have been worse. Nobody was hurt. The chain fence was at the top of a steeper drop off to a running track and baseball field. Luckily there were no games going on, and the area was very quiet at that late Saturday afternoon timeframe.

The bad news is the back end of the Vette looks pretty bad:



The car struck two of the metal posts, as can be seen from the dents in the bumpers, snapping the chain between the posts The car came to rest with the post on on the passenger side miraculously only an inch from the front fender, sparing it any damage. The post on the driver's side got bent over (the post didn't bend, but its concrete base was moved, so it came to rest underneath the car, just behind the driver's seat. The post slightly dented the radius rod on the driver's side, then punched a hole in the floor of the jack stowage compartment. Surprisingly, no damage was done to the the engine, trans, or exhaust (other than the mangled tailpipes). It took two tow truck drivers 90 minutes to figure out how to extricate the car from the impaled post, with me digging furiously (and breaking the shovel) in an effort to move the post away from the passenger side enough so the tow truck could hoist and maneuver the car forward and off the impaled post. We succeeded, after lots of effort and head-scratching.


Here you can see the post, wedged under the car, with radius rod dented. The white scratch on the axle is from trying to shift the car on its own power, an effort we quickly deemed as ineffective.

Remarkably, once the car was off that post, we could drive it home. It drove just fine. At least it didn't have to get towed to some impound while I figured out where to take it for repairs.

So, pride wounded, the car is now safely garaged, while I file an insurance claim and search for a qualified shop to repair the car.

Oh, and yes, I had applied the parking brake. As we know, these aren't that effective (mine obviously wasn't!). What I should have done, and kick myself for, is not having turned the wheels into the curb, which would have prevented this disaster. Lesson learned.

I'll provide updates on the repair saga, so stay tuned...

Any suggestions, tips, or advice as I proceed are appreciated.

 

Really Sorry to see the damage but happy no one was injured. My Grandmother was killed at 56 years old from a very similar accident with a car and its parking brake. In her case the car had sat in one spot all day long. As she was walking down the street that car decided to take off down the street. Pinned her up against a tree, I don't think she had any clue it was even coming.
Due to that family experience, my cars always have a good working parking brake and I ALWAYS set them when I park. My friend from back East always make fun of me because in the freeze country you guys never use a parking brake because they will freeze and lock your wheel. On my Yukon I have had the Frozen Parking Brake twice while visiting up at Lake Tahoe so I have seen that first hand also but a life long habit of using the brake is hard to change just because it is cold outside.

Best of luck with your repairs, I hope it comes out good as new.

 

Alex,
That's hard to look at. Hopefully, you can find a competent shop to repair her and she'll be a good as new. Turning the wheels into the curb has been a practice of mine since I was a kid learning to drive back in the '60s.

 

Oh man that is heartbreaking. Glad no one was hurt.

 

Damn! Very sorry that happened to you! Best wishes on getting repairs done and back on the road soon!

 

So sorry to hear that this happened. On my 67 coupe, I never trust the parking brake that much. I always put it gear AND use the parking brake.

Hope that you get it repaired to your satisfaction soon!

 

Hind sight is always 20/20.
Oh, and yes, I had applied the parking brake. As we know, these aren't that effective (mine obviously wasn't!). What I should have done, and kick myself for, is not having turned the wheels into the curb, which would have prevented this disaster. Lesson learned.
We all know that but sometimes for what ever excuse we can later come up with we just didn't do it.
Unfortunately it takes something like this to happen to remind why we should turn the wheels every time.
Good luck with the repairs. I hope it takes less time than you thought and the finish product exceeds your expectations.

 

The Parking brake worked really well on my 69 I had in 74/75 .... Same brakes aren't they?? Was my car an exception??

 

Sorry to see such a beautiful Stingray like this. maybe take a pair of solid rubber wheel chocks if there may be a possibility of parking on an incline.
Best wishes on repairing this beautiful Stingray

 

That hurts just looking at it.... I hope you can get her back to original condition.

 

Appears the fiberglass damage was largely confined to the tailight panel and didn't get into the roof panel.

 

So sorry to see that. Hope you can find a competent shop to fix it. I was on a slight slope the other day in mind and applied the parking brake to hold it for a bit. Not surprising, the car started slowly rolling forward and it wasn’t much of a slope. My problem is probably aggravated from driving the car a couple of times and overlooking the brake was lightly applied.

 

Just shaking my head, it hurts to see that. Best wishes to find a experienced shop for the repairs. Dennis

 

Oh that is just terrible to see. I'm glad nobody was hurt. Best wishes on getting it correctly repaired.

 

That's a punch in the gut - sorry to hear (and see) that. But I like your thread title to come back at it hard and get it fixed. Good luck!

 

So sorry, brother.... My parking brake is just kind of a suggestion, like maybe I'll hold, and maybe I won't. I hope your repairs are swift and perfect! Gorgeous car!

 

Wow - glad it wasn't worse. It can be fixed, and please keep us posted.

Mine is weak on Vette as well. I adopted a fully original mint 65 Corvair a few years ago w PG and NO park lock on the trans by design. PB is very tight and single pot conv to Dot5 but we live on a ridge with a lot of slope.
Keep a couple of HD rubber block types for when I am doing work, but that scenario plays through my head like a horror movie. In my case, it would be hitting monster trees and glacial-deposited boulders. I definitely needed the reminder about the turning-wheels deal, as it is not my habit, having grown up as a "flatlander".