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It's with a heavy heart that I share the possible passing of my 1974 coupe.
First, a quick memory of happier times...
Anyway, three weeks ago last Friday was the first beautiful day of spring in the mid-Atlantic. I have a back road commuting option from my home to downtown that's all farm fields and country houses instead of the usual interstate, so I decided to drive my vette. I always worry a little about parking it downtown, but my business has a couple private parking spots and I've never had any bad situations there in the past decade.
Come out from the office, car looks fine. Called my wife to tell her I was in the vette and wouldn't hear if she called. The car had a bad carb for the first few years I owned it (until Lars took it and worked his magic) so part of me is always convinced the car won't start, that something will go wrong and I'll be stranded. I got that same feeling this time a little stronger than usual, but it started right up. The feeling didn't go away. It was mild, but definitely had a "something will go wrong today" vibe to it. I ignored it as my usual paranoia and headed back home on the beautiful route.
The sun was low in the sky, streaming in across the farm fields. Temperatures were in the mid 70s, hardly a cloud in the sky. I had the tops down and was just enthralled with the day. Radio hasn't' worked for years, so I was soaking in the sound of the car, etc. Traffic was medium - it's a two lane and I was one in a series of cars that were stretched out along this road. We were all driving right about the speed limit.
Well, somehow I didn't see the brake lights on an old truck stopping in front of me to make a left. Either the low sun or faulty brake lights, at this point I'll never know. It's crazy how much time slows down when the adrenaline kicks in. I hit the brakes and tried to swerve onto the shoulder. It was a steep shoulder with a telephone pole off to the side, but I thought I might have room to thread the needle between the car and the pole. All 4 tires locked, and I didn't have time to tell my right leg to ease up a little on the brakes and give me back some steering control. I realized I wasn't going to make it and shut my eyes at the last second.
I clipped the corner of his rear bumper with my driver side corner. And it tore me open like a sardine can.
The sound of splintering fiberglass is very different than crunching metal.
When the car came to a stop, I opened my eyes, and through the dust I noticed part of my front fender was sitting on my passenger seat. And there wasn't a scratch on me.
I've never felt the hand of God so clearly in my life as I did in that moment.
So then it was the usual, I guess. Check on the other driver, call 911 and try to not babble incoherently from the adrenaline, wait on the police (20 minutes), gather all the parts of my car out of the road, etc. One lady passing by actually burst into tears seeing my car. The officer, EMT, and tow truck driver all got bummed when they saw the car. The tow driver said, "When they said yellow corvette, I just thought it would be one of those 90s crappy ones. Not a classic. I'm not prepared for this. I mean, I have all the tools, I just mean emotionally."
The other guy's truck was barely damaged, considering. The officer was amused that he was on the scene of an accident where both cars were at least 30 years old.
I didn't post until now because there were questions on whether I would be covered under my insurance policy, etc. That all seems to be worked out now, and I just heard back from the appraiser finally.
I had hoped that maybe it was cosmetic - a new front clip, inner wheel well, a new tie rod, etc. I haven't been able to examine the car since it's been in various tow lots since. Well, no such luck. The appraiser said it looks like it caught the front corner of my front bumper because the brackets are bent, and it caught the front wheel enough to bend the A arms and possibly the frame in that area, because in his words, "the bend looks a little sharper than on the other side. Won't know unless we get it up on a frame rack."
The declared value for insurance was $11K. A little low, I'm finding out, and he says it's likely it will be a total, since parts alone are starting to climb up to that number.
So I don't know where to go from here. Have any of you gone through this? If the car is a total, is it worth doing restoration on a salvage title? How much does it affect vehicle value? Would attempting to save it be a giant money hole? How does buy-back after a total loss work for classic cars? I don't know what to expect at this point, and I'd appreciate any advice and wisdom from the group.
I've owned this car for 16 years, and this forum both actively and passively, is the reason this car has lasted. I've never had the money to have someone else work on the car, so I've turned to corvette forum every time something broke or stopped working right, and you've never steered me wrong. I knew nothing about automotive work when I bought this thing, and now I'm comfortable pulling transmissions. i'll keep you all up to date on what I find out, but it's not looking good.
Your car looks repairable to me. I have fixed much worse. I would find someone in your area who works on Corvettes to look at it. Don't believe what insurance people tell you, most known nothing about old cars and have no idea about fixing them. They like to total them because it takes less work for them. I had a customer call me about a 73 that he bought new, and someone with the geckos insurance had hit him. They told him it was totaled and he bought it back. It had no major damage. I replaced the bumper cover fixed a few cracks and painted the front for 3k. He had enough money left over from the settlement to buy a new zz5 crate motor and have it installed. He ended up with a salvage title ,but who cares. He wanted to keep the car. JBL
I commend you for acknowledging you were at fault. That's rare nowadays.
I solemnly say to you 'Im sorry'....I know the emotional attachment these cars can have.
Insurance companies have a bottom line, and that line is of course MONEY. Its a simple matter of what its worth versus what it will cost to repair. Unfortunately, body parts for these cars arent readily available anymore so even minor collision damage may doom your car to being 'totaled'.
As others have said, you can buy the car back for a fraction of what your insurance payment will be. If the drivetrain is still good, at least keep that or sell it. Consider your car an organ donor who may jjst keep another Corvette running.
Sorry to hear about your accident but glad you’re ok.
Really doesn’t look that bad. If they do write it off might be worth a closer look depending on how much they want for buy back. It will have a salvage title though so keep that in mind.
Sad to see this happen. As for bringing it back to life, when I see the picture, my first thought was that I would have to bring it back to life. But, it will cost money and time, so I think you need to think about how much this car means to you. If it was mine, after all the time I spent on mine, and how much I love the car, I would have to rebuild it.
My vote is if you love your car, get the frame checked, find a low cost parts car, swap the parts you need to make one awesome car, and enjoy life for many more years. Even if the frame is bent, pull the frame from the parts car and start from the frame up.
Its good to know you are OK physically (and you have confidence in God)....I understand the emotional letdown. Maybe the frame is not bent after all.......that would be 90% of the battle won by you. Decide how much you are willing to spend to repair the body......then, go from there.
Let the insurance company fixed it sounds like youve been through the car. Hard to find that for 11k. Wouldnt worry about "salvage" and x2 on not assuming at this point.
When they said yellow corvette, I just thought it would be one of those 90s crappy ones. Not a classic.
That's a tough day. So sorry and, as pointed out, could happen to any of us. I'm thankful you (and no one else) were not hurt. And I also appreciate the way you've approached this - it's easy to be negative, but takes a thankful person with a lot of heart and faith to recognize the fact that this could have been MUCH worse. Wishing you the best - it will turn out well, no matter what you decide.
Well, it is tough on what to say other than I'm glad you survived without anything worse.
Once upon a time, they would have put on a left fender, fix the other broken things, straighten the frame, replaced the bumper, paint the front end, and you'd be good to go.
Today, you need a top surround, probably a hood, a new fender skirt, and more. Just painting the car would eat most of the total cost. So for $11,000 coverage, I'm sure they are totalling it.
Now the problem is you have had it for 14-16 years, it was your uncle's before, and so it is part of the family. That is tough to lose. If you had it 3 or 4 years, then cut your losses and find another. But all that time, most view it almost like a member of the family dying if they total it.
And $11,000 might be tricky to find anything as nice as yours was to replace it.
But the salvage title is a curse. You need to avoid that, because the car becomes almost worthless to anyone but you with a salvage title. Before they do that, ask your insurance if they will insure it with a salvage title. That might be the leverage to keep them from declaring it a total, and just give you a settlement instead. Or it might be the defining statement that decides for you as to keeping or letting it go.
Tough one. Again, I'm glad you survived it all OK. You can buy other cars. Human Body parts are a one time deal.
First of all, I am glad you are physically unharmed.
As you stated, God was watching out for you.
Second, I did the exact same thing only on the other side on my 71
I was driving down the freeway. It was two lanes in each direction. I was following a pickup truck and it suddenly swerved to the shoulder to avoid hitting huge burlap bag full of tree trimmings sitting in our lane. I too swerved to avoid the obstruction, but after I passed it and was merging back onto the freeway from the shoulder, the pickup truck that the burlap bag had fallen off had stopped on the shoulder loomed right in front of me.
I hit that truck's left rear bumper with my right front tire.
It ripped the right A arm off the frame and did to my right front like it did yours.
Thank God no one was hurt, after the dust settled and a few days had passed I was completely bummed.
Like you I didn't want them to total the car. My insurance even sent out an old car specialist to try to boost the value up, but the frame was bent and it would have honestly cost too much to fix
They did offer to sell it back to me, but it would have been with a salvage title here in California (which I didn't want) and someone from out of state had offered them what I consider a crazy amount of money for it. I am guessing they had a way of laundering the salvage out of the title.
So now I am left with a picture and memories.
I will say in time I got over my grief and got another Corvette.
Wishing you the best
Glenn in San Diego
Last edited by gleninsandiego; 05-06-2018 at 01:09 AM.
They will still insure it, bet he can buy it back for peanuts, well under a grand. Its what the car means to him is the question. Then if he buys something else what is he getting into?
That is what I was hoping to buy mine back for, super cheap. And guys had stories of being able to do that. But the out of state buyer had offered to buy mine for $8k
They would have sold it back to me if I would beat that price
The insurance company said they had buyers lined up to buy totaled classic corvettes. And I don't think they were giving me a line of bull either.
05-05-2018, 01:05 PM
Possibly the End
